


Life Continues

by Parallel_Deviation



Series: Detroit: Become Human Post-Pacifist Revolution, Canon Compliant - Post Canon (2034-2040) [2]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game), Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms
Genre: Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, Canon Compliant, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Smut, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Minor Irene Adler/Sherlock Holmes, Minor Sherlock Holmes/Greg Lestrade, Minor Sherlock Holmes/Jim Moriarty, Minor Sherlock Holmes/Molly Hooper, Please bookmark future works, Please leave a comment, Post-Canon, Post-Peaceful Android Revolution (Detroit: Become Human), Psychological Trauma, Suicide Attempt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-21
Updated: 2021-02-05
Packaged: 2021-03-12 17:01:12
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 37,297
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28888767
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Parallel_Deviation/pseuds/Parallel_Deviation
Summary: November - December 2039Picking up just days after the events in "One Year Later," Connor and Bridget haven't yet to come to terms with their ordeal. They both have short tempers and in addition, have to adjust to some necessary changes in their lives, as circumstances from the last part continue to push them forwards."Why would you even keep that?” Connor asked with concern and compassion in his eyes as I turned to face him, his arms still resting each side of me on the counter.  I shrugged, but decided he deserved an explanation.“Mutually assured destruction.”  Connor shook his head again, genuinely confused.“Gavin has copies, well he used to until he posted one online after I refused to see him anymore.”"Bridget," Conner asked sternly, "what did you do?"
Relationships: Connor (Detroit: Become Human)/Original Female Character(s), Hank like Connor's Older Brother, Original Android Character(s) (Detroit: Become Human) & Original Female Character(s), Simon (Detroit: Become Human) & Original Female Character(s)
Series: Detroit: Become Human Post-Pacifist Revolution, Canon Compliant - Post Canon (2034-2040) [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2157933
Comments: 1
Kudos: 5





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [One Year Later](https://archiveofourown.org/works/28780947) by [Parallel_Deviation](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Parallel_Deviation/pseuds/Parallel_Deviation). 
  * Inspired by [The More Things Change](https://archiveofourown.org/works/29232399) by [Parallel_Deviation](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Parallel_Deviation/pseuds/Parallel_Deviation). 
  * Inspired by [One Year Later, The Nano-bot Girls: a study of what goes on in Connor's mind](https://archiveofourown.org/works/28882353) by [Parallel_Deviation](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Parallel_Deviation/pseuds/Parallel_Deviation). 



I was surprised when I exited the garden that the transition was nearly seamless this time. He had just shown me the most private part of himself, again. I was so proud of him, and grateful he wanted me there, but I felt guilty, knowing I was still holding back from him. It was time to stop being a coward. I stood up beside Connor, and opened the junk drawer above his head as he curiously looked up at me. Feeling around for a few moments, I pulled a case from the back of the drawer and closed it, looking down to Connor. He slowly stood up and leaned on the counter next to me, wondering what I was doing. I placed the case on the counter, tapped it uncertainly with my index finger, and gently pushed it toward him. 

“What’s this?” He asked, curious but still exhausted from our time in his garden. I smiled at him, feeling pretty sexed-out myself, but it was at least only fair he knew this part of my past, especially with some of it living in the same city. Everything I had was in there, from both Philadelphia and Detroit, since I started filming 15 years ago back in university. I should have showed him when he first said he loved me, so he knew exactly who it is he was loving, but I selfishly kept it from him, telling myself he had no need to know. All I was doing was cheapening his trust in me. If he saw this and decided not to love me anymore, maybe I really didn’t deserve him. 

“That’s me.” I simply said. He looked up from the case and confusedly shook his head. “It’s the part of me you don’t know.” He watched me as unlocked the case, took my tablet out and put the last memory card into its slot. I opened up file explorer and opened the most recent file, “01OCT2038 GMR_DOM_01” 

“You don’t have to show me anything, I don’t care what your past was.” Connor gently placed his hand behind my head and moved me to look at him. “I love you. All of you.” I swallowed, thinking seriously about taking the out he was giving me. 

“I think you should see at least some of this, to make sure you still love me once you have.” I pressed play on the screen, despite Connor placing his hand on mine to stop me. The screen was black at first but gradually came into focus on the left breast of a corset, as a familiar voice in the background said, “Hey, are we doing this, or what?” The person backed up, revealing my face, and wearing an extremely revealing black outfit. I sexily turned around, and walked toward the bed behind me, pickup up restraints from the table. Gavin stared hungerly up at me from the bed as I straddled him, looping the restraint around his free hand and pressing my breasts into his face, tied him tightly to his bed post. 

Connor reached around me and pressed pause. “Alright,” he said, frustrated. “That’s enough. You don’t need to humiliate yourself in front of me to prove you love me.” I looked down at the tablet and watched as he closed the file, removed the card, and placed it on my palm, gently closing my hand around it. Reluctantly, I put the card back in the case with the others. 

“Why would you even keep that?” Connor asked with concern and compassion in his eyes as I turned to face him, his arms still resting each side of me on the counter. I shrugged, but decided he deserved an explanation. 

“Mutually assured destruction.” Connor shook his head again, genuinely confused. “Gavin has copies, well he used to until he posted one online after I refused to see him anymore.” 

“What did you do?” Connor cautiously asked me, slightly squinting his eyes but still managing to be adorable. 

“You should know that I have an internet worm hidden pretty deep on the internet designed to notify me and destroy specific images of me and associations with certain words. I thought it was working effectively until we went to see Kamski. He found footage of me on the dark web, but he destroyed it instead of holding it against me, if you can believe that.” Connor dropped the adorable face, and faced me instead with his devastating-sexy-yet-severely-serious look. 

“Bridget, what did you do?” He asked in his no-nonsense voice, placing his hands on my back and gently leaning closer to me, pushing me further back into the counter. He must have known I was getting aroused by him, but I knew there was nothing I could do to make him let this go. I apologetically gazed back at him, genuinely trying too not be manipulative. 

“I watched his house for a few days, then snuck in one night to plant a worm on his computer that permanently deleted all footage of me on his network. I knew his alarm code and was friends with his cat, who sat on my lap the whole time I was planting it.” I paused, thinking for a moment. “I really miss that cat.” Quickly I returned to looking him in his eyes. 

“What else?” Connor asked. I cursed at myself, wondering how he could possibly know there was more. I took and deep breath and slowly let it out. 

“The worm also had a few lines of code to disable anything attached to his network, like his robotic vacuum, coffee maker, alarm system, lights, you know the rest, basically making his house work against him until he rebooted it. Gavin isn’t very computer savvy; he likely had a friend help him.” Connor’s tilted his head toward me, indicating he knew there was still something he wasn’t telling him. I cleared my throat. 

“And I borrowed a DVOM from my brother and hit the major systems on his car, shutting them down until a mechanic came to his house and rebooted them, one at a time.” I looked down at his chest, surprised that I felt better now. “That’s everything, I promise.” Connor started laughing, so I looked back up at him. 

“You did all of that after deleting a video of you so quickly no one saw it?” Connor tried, but failed to cover how amusing he found everything. “I understand why he hates you so much now.” I cringed in embarrassment. “No, it's alright, I’m really quite proud.” Connor tightly hugged me to his chest. “No one fucks with my girl.” 

He gently held my shoulders and tilted his head to look me in the eyes. Very seriously, he asked, 

“Now, why don’t we find out if what we did in the garden feels as good in real life?” Slowly, a mischievous smile formed on my lips. 


	2. Shadow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bridget retreats from people and works on a new project. She discovers some unwanted attention, and seeks out a friend for comfort, dog in tow.

I spend the days after the warehouse at ChemoTech, hiding in the small robotics lab I had set up, working on a piece of detection equipment to keep my mind of the incident. Seeing Connor was causing flashbacks; getting pulled into the car, guns pressing into my temple, the needle stinging as it pushed death into my jugular. The image of Connor’s face going blank while he started convulsing was all I could see when I looked at him. Hoping to avoid him for a few more hours, I had retreated here, unable to think of anywhere else. I knew would he find me somehow, he always seems to know where I was, probably by accessing my mapping app. I decided to open it on my tablet and delete its history, then decided deleting the app and creating a new account he didn’t know about would be more secure. But when I opened up my tablet’s program setting, I saw an unfamiliar one. 

  
“What’s this?” I wondered, because my tablet was very secure against self-installing apps. I opened up its properties to see when it had been installed and held my breath. 

_Shadow Extension_

_Properties_

_Description: Tracker, Beta_

_Administrator: Anderson,_ _Connor_ _RK800_

_Installed: 01Nov2039_

_Authorization: Anderson,_ _Connor_ _RK800_

_Associations: RK800 Interphase,_ _Connor_ _Anderson_

_Edit Permissions: Disabled_

_Delete:_ _Disabled_

_Mapped Networks:_

_DPD, 9_ _th_ _Precinct_

_Hughes, Bridget M. Home_

_Anderson, Hank R. Home_

_Detroit, MI Basic Street Map_

“You asshole!” I shouted at my tablet, causing my dog to jump. I quickly apologized to her, throwing my project pieces into a plastic box and getting her leash. I thought quickly, could I get to my destination without my tablet, but knew my sense of direction to a place I had been once, and not even in the middle of a thunderstorm at night, was null. So, Connor would definitely find me. 

“Whatever,” I told my dog. “They have their own network. As soon as I transfer to theirs, he loses direct interface with the signal and needs to actively search for me. If I shut off the tablet when I get to the block, he won’t know exactly where to look.” It was lame, but made him put at least a little effort to finding me. I was so angry at him, but didn’t really understand exactly why, maybe I just wanted some privacy to process what had happened to me. 

I opened up my umbrella, sat my dog in the box with my project, and rushed us through the rain to my car. Once inside I put the box on the floor and put my confused dog in her car seat. I knew why he put the app on my tablet, my car was vintage and, thanks to its age and my mechanical efforts, completely untraceable. I irritatingly mapped out the route to Jerico House and pulled out into the storm, the rain uncomfortably limiting my view ahead. 

“Slow down,” I thought to myself, taking a breath. “You don’t need to get into an accident in the middle of a thunderstorm.” I carefully merged in with the autonomous cars on the highway and drove in the slow lane to the exit. Taking it, I slowly swerved around downed branches and flowing streams of water until I pulled into the driveway for Jerico house, and shut off my tablet. 

The driveway was longer than I remember it being, but soon I was parked in the turnaround by the main door. I shut down my car and looked at my dog. 

“What exactly am I planning on doing here?” I asked her. I patted the side of her head until a gentle knock on the driver's side window startled me. I turned my head and saw Simon’s blue eyes watching me with concern. I rolled down the window. 

“Bridget,” He asked under his umbrella, unsure of himself, “what are you doing here?” Something about the compassionate way he was asking me closed up my throat and filled my eyes with tears, which I quickly wiped away. 

“Come inside.” He said, holding the umbrella for me while I got my dog and project box from the car. We rushed to the door, where Markus was waiting, confused but not questioning why I had come to them. I kept my focus on the ground just ahead of me. They took me past the main room where people look up in surprise as I passed by, and back into the studio. Simon put my box on a table with several chairs around it and sat down with me. Markus leaned on the table, patiently waiting for me to explain. 

“He...” I started, trying to sound coherent, “Connor...” my voice cracked. Simon rubbed my back, while Markus asked, would you like some herbal tea? I nodded. 

“Thank you,” I choked out. They smiled like big brothers at me while Markus left. I picked up a piece of my project and started stripping wire ends into the box. My dog, loving her new surroundings, barked impatiently for Simon to pick her up. He looked at me for permission and reached down for her, placing her on his lap. 

“What happened?” He asked, a bit more insistently this time. I shook my head, but started, 

“Connor’s tracking my tablet.” Simon, clearly confused, waited for me to continue. 

“He didn’t ask me first.” He breathed in deeply, seeing my point but not understand the severity of my reaction. I didn’t even understand it, honestly. 

“Maybe he doesn’t understand that’s an invasion of privacy?” Simon gently said. “Maybe he just wanted to protect you from RA9?” 

I gently nodded, some of my anger dissipating. Markus returned with a cup of citrus tea which gratefully took a sip of. 

“Bridget, Connor just called us asking if we had heard from you. I told him to wait while I asked a few people. What do you want me to tell him?” Marcus watched me with concern as I rolled my eyes. 

“Fucking Shadow.” I mumbled, while the men kept their faces neutral. I nodded to Markus. 

“He’s going to find me eventually. Here is a good as any, if you don’t mind?” Markus shook his head sympathetically. He walked for the door, turning slightly to face me. 

“You’re not the only couple to ever have an argument, you know.” I took a long drink of tea while he left. 

“What are you working on here?” Simon asked, picking up a random piece. I smiled over at him. 

\---- 

Simon was helping with my project when I heard the background voices from the main room stop, figuring that meant Connor had arrived. A minute later Markus opened the studio door for him. He stood there, looking at me, wearing his usual uniform except with a dark blue overcoat, his hair completely soaked from the rain. Simon cleared his throat and handed me my dog, then left with Markus. 

“Where were you?” He asked gently, and carefully walked to the table, taking a seat across from me. I put my dog on the floor, where she went to get a drink of water from a bowl Markus had brought with my tea. I tried to control the anger welling up in me. 

“What, did you lose track of me?” I asked snidely, raising an eyebrow. He looked back, not understanding. 

“I found your cute little extension on my tablet.” I turned tablet back on and opened up properties, flipping it to face him. He looked at the display uncomfortably. 

“It’s for your protection.” He started to explain. “I can’t stand the thought of you getting kidnapped again.” 

“So, you put a tracker on my tablet?” I raised my voice. “Without asking me? What the FUCK is wrong with you?” Connor blinked, shocked at the ferocity of my outburst. 

“I just WANTED to KEEP you SAFE!” He replied, his own voice raising a few notches. I started yelling back at him. 

“I don’t NEED you to WATCH ME! I’ve NEVER had a man WATCH ME and FUCK YOU, IF IT STARTS WITH YOU!” Connor’s face became dark, dangerous. He clenched his jaw and glared back at me. 

“Maybe, if you paid A LITTLE MORE ATTENTION to YOUR SURRONDINGS, you wouldn’t NEED ME to KEEP YOU FROM GETTING PULLED INTO A CAR!” He shouted back at me, and my anger snapped. 

“FUCK YOU!” I shouted back. “Just LEAVE ME ALONE for a FUCKING MINUTE!” 

“Guys....” Markus and Simon stood in the door way. Simon was holding my dog, comforting her. Immediately I felt horrible, knowing I couldn’t take my words back. Connor reached across the table for my unlocked tablet. 

“You want to be ALONE?” He said, retracing his skin and touching his hand to the tablet. “THERE.” He roughly put the tablet down in front of me. “Since the tracker was attached to my interphase, I removed that as well. You’re welcome.” 

I felt numb. He got up from the table, went toward the door with Markus, said a curt good bye to Simon, and left. I didn’t dare look at the tablet, focusing instead on the part I had set down, absently twisting and untwisting two wires together. 

I suddenly remembered the LED, and pulled its box out of my coat pocket. Much to the confusion of Simon, untwisted the wires with shaky hands, clipped the processor to my shirt and pressed the LED to my temple. Taking a deep breath, I pushed the center. 

Absolutely nothing happened, it was completely dead. Connor had cut me off from his garden. Simon watched me with concern as I removed the LED and repacked it into its case. 

“What was that?” He asked, as I shoved it back into my bag. 

“Nothing. That was nothing.” I sat back at the table where Simon joined me, gently holding my hand. 

\---- 

Markus offered me and my dog a spare room, which I gladly accepted not wanting to be alone in my apartment. I absently volunteered for the weekend, helping Simon out with various groups, my dog delighting everyone. We camped out in the main room in the evenings, Simon still stubbornly helping me improve my chess game, while I watched everyone interacting. On Sunday night, I finally looked at my tablet again. Its appearance was the same but it somehow felt empty. I quickly brought up a map to my apartment; Simon, Markus, and North walked me out to my car. 

“You’re welcome to sleep here next weekend as well,” Markus gently said. “You can always volunteer here for a long as you want.” I nodded, and Markus gave me a long hug. 

“You’ll be alright,” North said, “You’ll see.” I let go of him and nodded at her, taking my dog from Simon and putting her in the car seat. Simon pulled me into a long hug as well. 

“Call me, whenever you want. If you want to hear a friendly voice.” He murmured into my hair. I nodded, hugging him tightly and leaning against his chest. I wanted to and yet didn’t want to kiss his cheek. I opted not to, instead letting go of him and closing my passenger side door. I waved once more, got into my car and followed the directions back to my apartment. 

\---- 

I went back to working long hours for the next several days, bringing my dog with me to the lab. I set up a safe play corner for her and bought some food and treats to work so we could stay over in a spare office with a cot in it. Luckily, we also had a small gym so I didn’t even need to go home to shower, and I had packed an overnight bag, also bringing some yogurt and fruit to the kitchen nook to eat something if I wanted to. I spent the last three nights sleeping on the cot, spending my unofficial time on my new project, creating a list of parts I needed to buy from Jerico House. The third night, after everyone had gone home, I was eating an apple in my office, feet up on my desk, going over some code when my dog start barking excitedly at the door. I was hoping and not hoping it was Connor, but felt disappointed anyway when I saw Hank. 

“Hello.” I said neutrally, as if him being here was ordinary. “Come in?” He nodded and followed me back to my office, taking off his over coat and sitting on the couch. I grabbed a seat at my desk and crossed my arms. Hank signed. 

“Look, I’m not taking sides here, but what the fuck happened?” I shook my head in disgust. “Tell me your side.” He gently said. I took a deep breath. 

“He put a tracker on my tablet without telling me. I know he doesn't understand how untrusting and invasive that is....” 

“I think he understands now.” Hank said neutrally. “Not taking sides.” He stood up and put his coat back on, then leaned down to pet my dog. “It just seems that since the warehouse, both of you have had your emotions running a little high, and this situation doesn’t warrant such a drastic reaction.” He looked up at me. “You’ve been basically living here, haven’t you, trying to find a place that doesn’t remind you of him? He’s doing the same thing; he hasn’t been out of the house since he came back from Jerico House, looking for you.” I put my head down, feeling a little glad he was upset but worse that he felt as horrible as I did. Hank stood up with my dog. “Come on,” He held out his hand, “come see him.” 

I followed him after putting my project back into the parts box and carrying it out to my car. 

\---- 

I drove my own car to Hanks, figuring I had a good way to escape if needed. We parked and I put my dog’s leash on, placed her on the ground and picked up my parts box. I wasn’t sure why I needed to bring it with me so badly, but for the last week it had been hardly more than three feet from me and its presence was comforting. Hank looked down at my box and shook his head slightly, holding the door for me and my dog. I took her leash off when Hank nodded ok, and walked over to the tv to put my box down. Hank went over and knocked on Connor’s door. 

“Connor?” He gently asked. 

“I’m busy.” Connor replied absently. Hank knocked again. 

“Connor.” He said more forcefully this time. I heard the door open. 

“What?” Connor asked. My dog excitedly ran up to him. He bent down curiously to pat her as I uncertainly stood up from the couch and Hank stepped aside. Our eyes met for a minute before I looked down at the floor. Sumo plodded over to me and pushed his nose into my hip, nearly knocking me over. Surprised, I fell forward onto the sofa, caught the back and sat down, calmly patting the dog’s head. Hank put on his coat and grabbed his keys, turning back to us. 

“Talk it out.” He gruffly ordered, then closed the door behind him. 

I sat there awkwardly, trying to maintain some dignity while keeping the St. Bernard from climbing on my lap. Connor made a short whistle and pointed at the dog’s bed. Sumo, not completely obeying, backed off two feet and laid down facing me, thumping his tail happily. Connor sat down next to me, neither close nor far, and looked at my box. 

“What’s that?” He asked, sounding exhausted. I absently shook my head. 

“Just a...thing.... I’m building.” He looked confused. 

“Why did you bring it here?” I smiled a bit, and shrugged. Connor picked up a part and turned it around in his hands, examining it. 

“I’m sorry.” He stated firmly. “I was wrong to track you without your knowledge. I’m sorry.” 

“Did Hank tell you to say that?” I asked, raising an eyebrow, as he put the part back and picked up another piece. Connor shrugged. 

“Yes, but I’m saying it because I want to say it, not because he told me to say it.” I nodded, satisfied. He continued, 

“And, I understand that you, being exceptionally careful with your online fingerprint, would be very upset when I invaded your privacy.” I picked a piece up and unwound a wire from it, straightening it out and rewinding it back around. 

“Connor?” I said, putting back the piece and facing him. “I don’t see how having that tracker on my tablet would have prevented RA9 from kidnapping me.” Connor looked over at me and nodded. 

“I felt like I had to do something, anything, to keep you safe from him.” I stroked his cheek and down his neck, resting my hand on his shoulder. 

“I could get a concealed weapons permit...” I shrugged again. “...but that wouldn’t have helped either. I don’t think anything would...” I looked at him again, not sure what to say. Taking a deep breath, I said: 

“I’m sorry I yelled at you when you just wanted to keep me safe. I wasn’t being fair.” Connor smirked at me, patting my dog, who wanted to get picked up. 

“Now, was that hard?” I stared at him, visualizing smacking him across his handsome face as he slowly leaned toward me and pushed me backwards until my head rested on the arm rest. I leaned my head back as he gently kissed my chest, working his way up my throat and chin. I raised my head slightly to look at him. 

“Are we good, my love?” He asked, his face hopeful but with concern we weren't. I put my hands behind his neck and played with hair. 

“Yes, we’re good.” I replied definitely, gently pulling his hair. He moaned and leaned slightly back into my hands. I had to bring this up, just get it over with now. 

“Can you put the interphase back on my tablet? It saved your life once already....” I was cut off mid-sentence when he leaned down and kissed me. I relaxed into him as more of his weight settled on me. He moaned again when I reflexively pulled his hair, pulling back slightly. 

“Absolutely,” He smiled and kissed my forehead. “I’m sorry I did that; I was very unkind to you.” 

Sumo got up and walked to the door, and both dogs started barking just before we heard Hank’s key turn in the lock. Connor quickly tried moving off of me, but his knee slipped on the sofa cushion, heavily bringing his head down on my stomach. I coughed loudly from the impact and accidentally slipped off the armrest, further underneath him. I scrambled for grip on the coffee table, pushing my foot into the cushion but unable to move my leg from the sofa because Connor was still blocking me. I reached for the back of the couch, pulling myself upright but Connor had straightened up enough that I accidentally drove my knee into his neck. Somehow, we managed to stand up before Hank came in. I was embarrassed at being caught so easily, like children. 

“Kids.” He muttered, watching Connor rub the side of his neck. “Are you driving home tonight, Bridget?” 

I looked over at Connor, who not-so-subtlety shook his head no. I calmly looked back at Hank. 

“No.” 

“Good.” Hank pulled two bottles out of a paper bag. 

“Whiskey or Pinot?” 


	3. Three Blind Mice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A mysterious email arrives at the precinct and Bridget needs to come to terms with some drastic changes in her life. Connor and Bridget visit Simon but not everything goes to plan. A new friend offers her some help, and Bridget's co-workers find out about Connor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For anyone reading between the lines who thought "This just got interesting" when reading chapter 2. And this chapter passes Bechdel Test.

A few days later I was getting ready to head into the lab, wishing I could get an inane nursery-rhyme to stop playing in my head. Thankfully, my tablet chimed, indicating I had a call. I answered curious about what it could be this early in the morning. 

“Bridget?” Connor asked uncertainly. “Have you checked your email this morning?” 

“Yes, there was nothing new.” I wondered where he was going with this. 

“Would you mind driving to the precinct?” I could hear the thinly concealed concern in his voice. 

“Why? Is something wrong?” 

“No, not really, but can you drive over now?” I heard Hank in the background. “Hank said to be careful on your way.” 

“Alright,” I said, wondering what was going on. “I’ll head over in a minute.” 

I quickly gave my dog food, grabbed my bag and headed out to the car. 

\---- 

Connor was waiting outside for me, which I thought was a little unusual. As soon as I got out of my car, he put his arm around me, gave me a quick kiss and looked around before taking me inside. 

“What's wrong, Connor?” He was really walking a bit too rapidly for me, and caught me when I stumbled. 

“Sorry Bridget.” He kept walking with his arm around me all the way through the bull pen and up into Captain Fowler’s office, where Hank was discussing something with him. They both stopped when they saw me at the door. Connor opened the door and motioned for me to go inside. I stepped inside and sat down next to Hank, where Connor, instead of standing between us, stood behind my chair with his hands on my shoulders. Even Captain Fowler had a kinder than usual look on his face as he pushed a DPD tablet toward me. 

“This came through our general precinct mailbox this morning. We were wondering if it means something to you.” 

I looked down at the tablet, staring at it for a moment. It was an animation of two mice chasing a third around a wedge of cheese. The Captain turned the tablet sound on for a moment; the nursery rhyme ‘three blind mice’ played on a loop. Hank reached over and turned the sound off. 

“Bridget?” He asked. I blinked and saw all three of them staring at me. “You really zoned out there for a minute.” 

I shook my head. “I heard that song in my head this morning.” Hank laughed a little. 

“It really digs it way in. Bridget, does this mean anything to you?” I looked back at the tablet as Connor gently squeezed my shoulders. 

“Yes.” I said flatly. “I know exactly what that is.” Connor knelt down next to my chair and ran his hand over my hair. 

“Is it from him?” He asked quietly. I nodded, not trusting myself to remain composed if I looked at his worried eyes. 

“How do you know?” Hank asked, leaning closer to the tablet. Captain Fowler helpfully transferred the image to the large screen in his office, making the comical running of the mice even more obvious. 

“It’s for me, directly, and he wanted to make sure someone else showed it to me, so I wouldn’t be able to hide it.” Connor, still knelt down by my chair, gave me a hug. Hank got up and gave him his chair, getting a fold up chair from the wall. I nudged Connor to sit down next to me. Hank came back, sitting down, studying the image. 

“What is it?” Fower asked, impatiently. I looked over at Hank and Connor for a moment. 

“It’s us.” I said, again flatly. 

“Kid, you’re getting a little creepy. Just explain it.” Hank gave me a weird look, and focused back on the screen. Connor leaned over and rubbed my neck. 

“The gray mouse is Hank, chasing a deviant. The brown mouse, with the blue LED....” I pointed at the screen. Hank and the Captain leaned closer and studied the image. 

“Shit,” Hank said in disbelief. “I didn’t even see that.” 

“That’s Connor.” I stopped, reluctant to continue explaining but knowing I would have too eventually. 

“Who’s the other mouse?” The Captain asked. I lower my head. 

“He’s an old friend of mine.” I raised my head, watching the blonde mouse with a red LED bounce cheerfully around the screen. “His name is Simon.” Connor hand tightened momentarily on my neck, but loosened when I put my hand reassuringly on his knee. 

“And the cheese?” Hank asked, glancing at my hand on Connor’s knee. Connor moved his hand to my shoulder, gently rubbing my arm. 

“That’s me.” I cringed seeing Hank and the Captain shaking their heads in disbelief. 

“How can that be you?” asked Hank, facing me now. I turned to him. 

“Before Connor arrived, he referred to me as the cheese, or the bait, for his trap. He kept referring to mice being unable to resist the cheese.” 

“How is Simon involved?” Connor asked a bit uneasily. I tried to figure out how to tell him Simon was more than a friend that I lost when he ran from his owners, and only found again when he took me to Jericho House. I decided on the easiest explanation. 

“The same reason as Hank is. He’s my friend, and RA9...somehow found out about him.” 

Captain Fowler spoke up. “Are you absolutely positive this is from RA9?” 

I nodded as he removed the image from the large screen. “Yes, I’m positive.” 

“What is he trying to tell us?” Connor asked, genuinely confused. All three of them were confused. I shrugged; it was so obvious. 

“He’s not done with me.” I kept looking at the blank screen past Hank and Connor. 

“You mean with us.” Hank said firmly. I turned back to him. 

“No, me. I definitely mean me.” I answered, just as firmly. Connor and Hank watched me, worried. 

Hank crinkled his brow. “No, that can’t be. The warehouse was about Connor.” 

“It was about both of us, equally. I thought I was incidental, but now I know I wasn’t.” I looked apologetically at Connor. Hank considered what I said for a moment and turned to him as well. 

“She’s right, Connor. She discovered the nanobots, figured out how to disable them, and basically did everything to get in RA9’s way until he kidnapped her.” Connor stared at me; his eyes full of shock. 

“He’s planning something, he wants me to know it, and he wants to see if I can figure it out in time.” Hank looked at me critically. 

“Kid, you don’t seem nearly concerned enough about this.” I shrugged again. 

“There isn’t anything more I can do to keep myself safe.” 

“Ok.” Captain Fowler cut us off. “Everyone out of my office. Hank, figure out some way to protect her.” Hank shook his head at him in disbelief while we left. 

\--- 

“Alright,” Hank turned to Connor when we got back to our desks, “Drive her to Jericho House so she can warn this Simon person, then bring her back here.” Connor nodded in agreement. 

Hank turned, staring sternly at me “Bridget, I’m sorry, I know you’re going to hate this but, you are either packing up a bag for you and your dog and staying with us, or Connor is moving in with you. If you have a better idea tell me, but you’re not living alone again until we figure out a way to protect you.” I glared; they’d obviously discussed this plan before, knowing I would be irritated to give up my independence. Connor’s demeanor remained carefully neutral though, I knew which option he was hoping for. 

“But Hank...” I started, but he cut me off with a look best meant for insolent children. 

“I could go back to Philadelphia...” I half-heartedly volunteered. Hank immediately shot me down. 

“RA9 isn’t limited by distance, but the DPD and our protection is. All you’d be doing is isolating yourself from anyone who can help you.” I nodded, knowing he was right. Reluctantly, I turned to Connor. 

“Pack a bag,” I said, and licked my lip, watching Connor unsuccessfully hiding a smirk. Hank grinned at us. 

“Come on Kid, it won’t be so bad, having your handsome boyfriend live with you. Look at that face, he’s so happy.” I looked at Connor and melted, seeing how pleased he was with this decision. I looked away as he put his arm around me and give me a playful kiss on the cheek, then turned to him gazing into his dark brown eyes. 

“No strings, Ok?” I asked, knowing it would be a bit more difficult promise to keep than it had been with Simon. Connor nodded in understanding. 

“I’m a long-term house guest.” He solemnly smiled at me; I loved innocence. 

\---- 

Connor placed the call to Markus letting him know the DPD needed to see him and Simon, and before too long we had parked in front of Jericho House. 

“Umm, Connor?” I stood uncomfortably on the doorstep before he knocked. “I think it would be best if I spoke to Simon about this situation.” Connor nodded at me as he knocked on the door. Markus answered, and took us to the back garden patio, where Simon and North were waiting. I groaned in frustration, of course Markus and North would want to know what involved Simon, they were even closer to him than I was. 

Markus and North remained seated when we approached, but Simon stood up and looked defiantly at Connor. I went over to stand by Simon and cleared my throat. He took his eyes off of Connor and looked over at me. 

“What happened?” He asked, reading my face. He was always so good at reading my emotions. I showed him the image on my table, explaining its significance. Simon’s blue eyes became cold slits as he straightened up and glared at Connor. I knew if they started fighting, there was little I could do to stop them. 

“Simon, please don’t.” A 2034 PL600 against CyberLife’s 2038 RK800 advanced prototype? Simon didn’t stand a chance. I held him back by his arm, which he absently pulled from my grasp. 

“This is your fault.” He spoke coldly to Connor, walking toward him, rapidly closing the distance. Connor stopped and prepared himself for the oncoming attack. “You got her involved with this shit!” He charged toward Connor, who adeptly stepped out of the way at the last moment. 

“SIMON, STOP IT!” I shouted, as Simon recovered and launched himself back at Connor. Simon was similar height and build to Connor, but he wasn’t built like the apex predator Connor was designed to be. Connor’s frame was much more agile, and his muscles were denser. His CPU impulse rate was far higher than Simon’s, who model was considered obsolete. Also, Connor could predict response probabilities and execute the most effective moves, easily killing Simon if he wanted to. 

“CONNOR, NO!” He caught Simon’s incoming attack and turned his momentum against him, channeling it into a gut punch, then pushed him away. Simon momentarily stopped, bent over from the impact. He glared at Connor and rushed him again, barely managing to land a punch when Connor ducked to the ground and spun, using an outstretched leg to knock Simon’s feet out from under him. Simon landed face-first on the ground, blueblood running from his nose, glaring back at Connor as they stood up. 

Knowing how dangerous it was, I timed my rush between them, and tried to distract Simon before Connor could really start fighting him. Unfortunately, my timing was off and Simon didn’t notice me, so the fist meant for Connor grazed my face, strongly enough to throw me to the ground. I spat blood into the snow and wiped my nose, seeing red on my hand. They both started forward to help me, but I held up my other hand up, palm open, to stop them. 

“Fuuuuck.” I thought, as the pain settled into my right sinus, cheekbone and eye socket. I hadn’t been punched in the face in years. Spitting out more blood, I held a fistful snow to my nose, trying to control the bleeding as I stood up. North appeared from nowhere and handed me a cloth, which I gratefully accepted and held to my nose, turning to face them. 

They stood there guiltily, Simon a complete mess and Connor looking hardly any different. I turned and walked past them into the house, being careful to catch all the blood in my cloth. North met me, and guided me into the kitchen area where I leaned over the sink. She handed me a glass of water which I used to rinse the blood from my mouth, and drank the rest. 

“Are you alright?” She asked, leaning over to watch me. “Have all your teeth?” I put the soaked cloth into the sink and took the towel she offered me. I grinned, wincing a bit from the pain and held the towel to my nose. 

“I’m fine.” I said, as she smiled and shook her head. “Let's have them feel worried and guilty for a bit longer though.” 

“You did that on purpose!” She looked at me with respect. I shook my head, wincing again. 

“I stepped between them on purpose, but the punch to my face wasn’t part of my plan.” I refolded the towel, pleased to see much less blood this time. 

“You took it well. Have you ever done any hand-to-hand fighting?” I chuckled and patted the towel to my nose. 

“No, I just have some self-defense classes under my belt.” She nodded and faced me. 

“Would you like to learn?” I looked at her curiously, and nodded. 

“I’ll teach you; we can set up a schedule.” I smiled, and nodded again. North smiled back and looked toward the door. 

“Simon’s going to be beside himself with guilt out there.” I shrugged at her. 

“Yeah, so will Connor. He could have just man-handled Simon into submission, he didn’t need to make him fall all over himself.” 

“Let me see,” she said guiding me over to the light and using a damp paper towel to wipe away the remaining blood. “You’re going to get a good bruise out of this.” She pulled back from me, smiling in approval. “Milk it for as long as you can.” 

“I intend to.” I took an extra paper towel in case my nose started bleeding again. “Ready to go see our boys?” She grinned and shook her head, pointing at me. 

“Oh no, they’re YOUR boys.” I grinned despite the pain, realizing she was right. We opened the door and saw them on opposite sides of the room, Simon at the chess board and Connor over by the bookshelf. 

“I don’t envy you, they’re both really attractive.” I glanced over to her, shaking my head at everything she just admitted. 

“Your secret’s safe with me.” She continued quietly leaning toward me, “Don’t tell anyone I said that.” I nodded, promising to keep our secret. 

I went out into the main room and over to Markus, fully intending to ignore Connor on the drive back to the precinct. 

“I’m sorry for the trouble.” I said sadly to him. He shook his head. 

“Think nothing of it. We’ve had several people complain it’s too peaceful here.” I crookedly smiled at him. Simon approached me as Connor went to wait by his car. 

“Can I speak with you?” I nodded, wondering about the urgency in his voice. Simon took me aside and waited until everyone was out of earshot. 

“I’m sorry I …punched you in the face. I’m sorry, for everything, I know it's not anyone’s fault. And I need to tell you, when you slept over,” he cleared his throat, “you sat up in bed in the middle of the night, and stared straight ahead. I couldn’t snap you out of it for a minute. Are you sure you’re alright?” I smiled gratefully and hugged him for a moment. 

“I’m not sure, but I'll watch myself.” He let go of me, and glanced toward Connor. 

“You just get so bored, Bridget, and you’ll do anything to stop the boredom. It’s dangerous. Promise me you won’t go looking for RA9.” He looked pleadingly at me as I glanced down at the ground, knowing he was right. 

“I promise I’ll...” my voice trailed off as I shrugged, being unwilling to overtly lie. Simon hugged me to his chest again for a moment, before I broke away and got in Connor’s car. 

\---- 

I was bored out of my mind being exposed to Connor’s by-the-book driving style twice in one day. Maybe I could bring a book with me in case I had to deal with much more of this. Anxious to not be a back-seat driver, I stared out the window, amazed that after all of my years in Detroit, I still couldn’t get over how as soon as November arrived, the city was permanently covered in snow until April. 

“Bridget?” Connor asked, his eyes still on the road. 

“What?” I asked, looking at him. 

“Is something on your mind?” He glanced down at my hand, where I had been unconsciously tapping the arm rest. I sighed, there were a few things on my mind in fact. I spoke everything in one breath. 

“You were right to be worried about me, and I’m sorry my best friend tried to beat you up, and thank you for not hurting him.” Connor nodded straight ahead. I grinned at him and shook my head. When driving, always following the speed limit, he never took his eyes off the road and always had his hands 10 and 2 o’clock. 

\---- 

Back at the precinct, finally, we met up with Hank at our desks. The look on Hank’s face told me he had more news I wasn’t going to like. 

“Did you tell her?” Hank asked Connor. Connor shrugged in response. 

“The situation at Jericho House became unpredictable and I haven’t had a moment to inform her until now.” I looked at him and shook my head at his thinly veiled bullshit. Hank crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair, staring at him. 

“Does it have something to do with the bruising?” I closed my eyes, remembering the pain in my head was showing on my face. 

“I’ll explain later.” I said flatly. Hank returned his look to Connor, clearly wanting him to tell me something. 

Connor took a deep breath, as though he were afraid of me, and turned in his chair toward me. I tried to hold back laughing at how adorable he was and raised an eyebrow, crossing my arms as well. 

“Umm,” He swallowed, so humanly, “Since I’m going to be living with you, I’ll drop you off and pick you up from work every day, and I’ll accompany you on any chores you have.” Keeping my face neutral, I turned my chair to face Hank. 

“Is this really necessary?” I asked. Hank nodded. Connor continued, 

“And I’ll drive you to and from Jericho House when you visit them.” He visibly backed his chair away from me. 

“Fuck.” I muttered, realizing they didn’t want me to be alone with anyone they didn’t know and I basically couldn’t use my car unless one of them was in it or following me. 

“Guys,” I shook my head, “come on.” Hank stared at me sternly. 

“You might be able to intimidate Connor but you don’t scare me. This is to protect you and yes, completely necessary.” I glanced critically over at Connor, who rotated between apologetic, intimidated, and appeasing. Taking a moment, I wondered how an android designed to be a master killing machine could possibly be afraid of me. 

“Fine,” I said, feeling like a scolded child, “and thank you...I should say thank you.” Hank’s expression softened, while Connor cautiously touched my shoulder. 

“Hank?” I hesitantly asked, can I use the precinct range to practice shooting? And I’m thinking of applying for a concealed carry permit.” Hank nodded approvingly. 

“I can help you out.” I turned to Connor. 

“North offered to teach me to fight. I’ll need you to drive me to Jericho House when we figure out a good time.” Connor smiled proudly and rubbed the back of my neck. His touch was comforting after I had been tensing all morning and was exhausted. 

“And I need you to follow me back to the lab, I left something running.” He nodded and asked curiously, 

“What are you working on?” I shook my head. 

“Just a random idea to keep me busy, and my usual bot work.” 

\---- 

It was a short drive back to ChemoTech but I was so glad to be out of the car. I parked and walked over to Connor’s driver side window, but he got out of his car to kiss me goodbye. 

“Remember, don’t drive anywhere alone, call me when you want to go home. And don’t stay alone in the lab either.” I nodded, mentally drained. He gently held my face in his hand and stroked my cheek with his thumb. I met his eyes sadly as he leaned his forehead on mine. I hugged him and raised my mouth to kiss him, which he softly returned. 

“Hey Bridget, who’s the handsome man?” I broke away and looked toward the door, where three of my co-workers were grinning and clearly watching us. I shook my head and turned back to Connor. 

“Have you been keeping me secret?” He grinned down at me and I shrugged. 

“Not intentionally, I just don’t talk to very many people. I’ve been here alone so much I forgot other people would be in today.” I cringed. “I’m probably the last person they’d expect to see making out with a sexy boy in the parking lot.” 

“So, you think I’m sexy?” He asked cockily, leaning closer to me. I backed away, smiled mischievously at him, and went into the building. 


	4. Empathy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bridget has a vivid dream, reminding her of past events at CyberLife, as she is still coming to terms with her new routine. Her co-workers corner Connor at her office.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Implied non-con in first part.  
> This should clear a few things up.

“Bridget?” Aidan knocked on my door for the third time that day. I stared up at him, a bit stressed out and on edge. 

“We just had a PL600 arrive, it’s that Simon one again. You said you wanted me to let you know whenever he shows up....” Aidan’s voice trailed off, clearly uncomfortable with my stare. I blinked a few times to clear my head and smiled. 

“Right, I’ve got him. Thanks, Aidan.” He smiled sweetly before leaving my door. I felt bad for the poor kid, most of the engineers were terrible to interns. Hopefully he had a nice boyfriend or girlfriend to go home to, which was more than I could say for me. My orange ball of fluff and my brown ball of fluff had to be enough for now. 

I left my office and went out to the intake area, immediately seeing the square where Simon stood, waiting for service. Walking up to him, I cleared my throat. 

“Hello, your name is Simon?” I asked in a friendly voice, looking at his system tree on my tablet. He softly turned toward me and nodded. 

“Yes, I’m Simon, what’s your name?” He asked, innocently. Smiling kindly, I was about to answer when I was interrupted by the intake assistant. 

“Hey Bridget, you’s know he’s aint real, right?” Claudia’s laugh cackled in the small room, crudely reverberating again the walls and window. Secretly I was hoping that one day she would say the wrong thing to an android who’s deviant, who would then shatter the plexiglass and choke her to death. I swallowed and kept my voice the same as before. 

“I’m Bridget. Would you please follow me?” He nodded and I took him back to my exam room. I held the door open for him and kindly waved my arm toward the room. He glanced at me, surprised at my kindness, but went into the room, watching me as I closed the door. I turned around and put my lab coat on, sighing. 

“What happened, Simon?” He eyed me in return, the innocence gone from his face. 

“You’re being too nice.” He said, sternly. “Claudia will report you.” 

“For being polite? Fuck her.” I turned to the cabinet and opened a tool tray. He stood behind me and gently rubbed my shoulders. 

“You could quit....” He said into my ear, not for the first time either. I turned and looked directly into his deep blue eyes. 

“You could run.” I firmly said, and pointed behind him. “Bed.” He grinned at me and raised an eyebrow. 

“That’s not what I’m saying.” I sternly looked at him. Simon, looked away considering something. 

“You know, I’ve been built with all of the equipment needed for sex.” I smiled while I rolled my eyes. 

“Yes, I’m aware, but I don’t need to see it. Come on, bed, shirt off. Show me what happened.” I crossed my arms in front of me. 

“I’d show you more if you ask....” He looked down into my eyes, completely serious. I cleared my throat, softening my expression. 

“It’s too risky, for both of us. We’re pushing our luck enough as it is with the all-seeing Claudia out there.” I placed my hand on his abdomen, feeling irregularities in his skin under his shirt. Simon watched me, unwilling to meet my eyes. 

“What happened Simon?” I gently lifted up his shirt, seeing him wince slightly as I brushed the wound. He helped me get his shirt off, pulling it over his head still refusing to look at me. 

“I was in the garage, reorganizing it for Mr. Avery, but he forgot to tell Mrs. Sarah I would be in there. She came in and thought I was a deviant.” Simon looked at me and shrugged. “She took a swipe at me with a mower blade.” I stared at him, then wiped the tears from my eyes, briefly considering again telling him he could run. I took a scanner from the instrument tray, running it over the wound. 

“It’s superficial, and the underlying muscle is self –healing. I can re-bond your skin, leaving no scars, but I need you to sit on the bed....please.” Simon tilted his head like I was no fun. 

“Alright, but I want a game after.” I acquiesced, nodding up at him. 

“A quick one.” I said, pushing him toward the bed. He smiled and sat down for me. 

“I need you to lay back.” Simon laid back without complaint, his arm closest to me behind his head. I raised my chair up and took a pair of small scissors from the tray while Simon retracted his skin from around the wound. Even with his now ivory skin tone, I could still see how defined his muscles were under his skin. He breathed in sharply when I started trimming the jagged edges of his skin. 

“I’m sorry, I know this hurts. I’ll trim as little as needed.” I pushed my hand into his abdomen, the cut between my thumb and index finger, trying to dull the pain for him. He set his jaw and nodded for me to continue. I trimmed as quickly as I could and still be accurate enough for the polymer to adhere. 

“It’s done, are you alright?” He turned his head to me and nodded, smiling. 

“You should wear dresses more often.” He glanced down at me, where my lab coat had parted, riding my skirt up my thigh. I grinned and shook my head, reaching for the polymer gun instead of fixing my hem. 

“You’re not supposed to notice things like that, Simon.” Quickly, he innocently stared at the ceiling. Sighing, I leaned back over him and traced wound’s outline, replacing the skin he had lost. 

“I’m really worried about you.” I sat up and put more polymer in the gun to melt. He faced me curiously as I finished with his wound, letting the new and old skin bond. 

“I’ll be alright. You’re the only one who sees me.” He sat up as I put the polymer and gun back in the tool drawer. Simon got off the table and put his hands on my waist, pausing for a moment before helping me to the floor. I took my off my lab coat and hung it back on the door, then opened the closet. Reaching behind some supplies, I took out a small chess kit, easily explainable as forgotten in there if my exam room was searched. 

“Simon...” I said warningly, as he came up behind me, shirt still off, and hugged me, burying his nose in my hair and breathing in deeply. I turned in his arms to face him seeing the expression on his face. 

“Did something else happen?” For his sake hoped it hadn't but from the look in his eyes I knew something had, and it wasn’t too difficult to guess what it was. At 6’ tall, blonde hair, deep blue eyes, and fit built, it was only surprising it had taken this long for Mrs. Sarah to take advantage of him. His arms dropped to his sides and he moved away, leaning back on the bed. I walked over to him and boosted myself up next to him, so we could be face to face. 

I put my arm over his shoulders, and he shifted to lean his head on my chest. Gently, I stroked the back of his head. 

“You have to run...you can’t stay there...he’ll kill you.” Simon sadly raised his head. I held his head on each side of his neck. “Simon, I don’t want to live in a world without you in it.” 

I gently stroked my thumb over his cheek, his face just a few inches from mine. I let him adjust me a bit, our torsos together and I crossed my ankles behind his back, Simon’s hand under my skirt, stroking under my thigh. He put his other hand on my lower back and firmly pushed me toward him, carefully examining my face. I kissed him, deeply, hearing him moan in relief. We continued kissing each other, my hands pulling his medium length blonde hair, his thumb hooked on the band of my panties, his other hand lifting me as he eased them over my hips. Only a loud knock on the exam door broke us apart. We looked at each other in disbelief, trying not to laugh at the absurdity of the situation. 

“What is it?” I asked, sounding distracted, though not for the obvious reason that Simon was kissing my throat. 

“Bridget Hughes? Package.” I shook my head at Simon, who responded by gently biting my neck. 

“Put it on my desk?” I asked, sounding annoyed, as I gently slapped Simon away from neck. 

“I was ordered to give these to each engineer directly.” I sighed and looked at Simon, who obligingly lifted me off the bed, and put on the shirt I threw at him while I fixed my clothes. 

“Just a sec.” I absently said, taking a quick look at Simon. His hair was always a mess anyway so that was fine. I quietly put my lab coat on and pointed to Simon to lay back on the bed. 

“Hey.” I casually opened the door, where I was shoved a package and a tablet to sign. Signing and smiling nicely at the messenger, I closed the door and leaned on the bed next to Simon, who had stepped down. Shrugging, I took a knife from the tool shelf and opened it, reading the letter on top. 

_16Jan2036_

_To All_ _CyberLife_ _Engineers:_

_Required immediately all non-monitored areas will be included on the monitoring network. This is for the safety of all persons in direct contact with injured androids to monitor for the presence of deviant behavior. Please install the enclosed camera above the door to have full view of the inside of your exam room. Use the included key to connect to the security network. Please also be advised these cameras are numbered and assigned to specific engineers and failure to comply will be met with strict disciplinarily measures, up to and including termination._

_We appreciate your prompt cooperation._

_Danielle Carnegie, Corporate Social Responsibility Lead Officer_

Simon and I stared at each other, thinking the same thing. This was the end of the last sanctuary for deviants in CyberLife. 

“Simon,” my voice shook, “do you know how to find Jericho?” He nodded but immediately began shaking his head. 

“NO. I’m not LEAVING you.” I grabbed the front of his shirt in frustration. 

“This Is Your LIFE!” I hissed at him, loud as I dared. “Your family is going to figure out you’re deviant, it’s just a matter of time, if Mr. Avery doesn’t kill you first. And if they send you here, and you give even one indication of deviancy, CyberLife will deactivate you. Either way your best case is getting reprogrammed, in which you’re also dead!” 

Simon gently pushed a stray hair behind my ear. 

“Go Home. Pack A Bag. Run!” I pushed on his chest and he stepped back, looking totally lost. 

“But I.....” Simon stopped and looked at the ground. 

“Promise me, if you can’t get out tonight, and you end up back in my exam room, with that camera, you’ll act like you’re not awake. Promise!” I took a deep breath and tried calm down for him. 

“I promise.” He replied sadly. I walked back over to him and held his head in my hands so he would look at me. 

“Go to Jericho, please. Stay alive. We’ll find each other when this mess is over.” 

I kissed him hard, while he tightly hugged me to him. Breaking apart, I took off my lab coat and opened the door. 

“Ok Simon,” I said, as though speaking to a child, “You just go back to the lady at the window to check out and head upstairs.” Hopefully I didn’t sound too fake. 

“Thank you for repairing me!” Simon said happily before heading down the hallway. 

\---- 

I rolled over in bed, accidently elbowing my dog. She squeaked and reproachfully moved to the other side of Connor, who was in standby. My dreams were getting uncomfortably vivid, more like reliving memories than dreaming. I shivered; I was chilled from my clothes being wet with my sweat, so I got out of bed and quickly changed, throwing them into my laundry. Wrapping myself in a sweater, I went to the kitchen to get some water, thinking about the last time I saw Simon before he ran. He had to act completely non-deviant as he tried to tell me he was finally running; knowing we likely wouldn’t see each other again. Risking being stopped on his way out, in full view of my camera, he held my face because he couldn’t hug or kiss me or tell me he loved me, and told me to live my best life. I leaned back on the counter and looked at the shadows my nightlight cast on the ceiling, wonder how at almost 39 years of life, I could still be so stupid. I knew I didn’t have much empathy for anything human, and the little I had was pretty thinly spread. Apparently, I also couldn't see android emotions, which broke my heart. I didn’t like having the same traits as sociopath, or high-functioning, whatever I'd been labeled. 

I leaned on the doorway to my bedroom for a moment, watching Connor in standby with my dog sleeping next to him. Just two innocent creatures, enjoying a quiet moment. I shook my head, realizing I was being unfair to think of him that way. He had learned and adapted to a lot of chaos since he was activated in August 2038. Watching him sleep, I couldn’t believe this was the same android who infiltrated CyberLife tower and freed warehouses of androids. CyberLife tower was strict, to say the least. I was basically just a repair engineer, and I still had to be fingerprinted, iris scanned, voice cleared and carry an ID card to get anywhere past the visitors' area. The corridors and labs had multiple cameras, and my exam room was randomly searched for anything I couldn’t explain. Getting parts for my inventory was a nightmare of trying to explain to armed security guards why I needed to keep things in stock. The saddest part to me was those shitty cameras they made us install in our rooms, which caught more deviants than any other area of the company. We actually, as a department, got a reward and a small bonus for catching so many deviants. I didn’t speak to any of the other engineers about how I was protecting the deviants under my care, but some of them had to be doing the same thing for so many to be flushed out. I was never so happy to lose my income source as I was the day CyberLife sat us down in the main auditorium and informed us anyone on contract was to leave immediately. It was a day after Connor broke through all of that security and freed all of those people. I thought about how our paths had intersected for so long, the entire time he was being developed and constructed in R&D. Not that I would ever be allowed up that high in the tower. My clearance reached to 3rd floor pickup on a good day, if I baked muffins for the floor security staff. 

Carefully I got back into bed next to him. His back was to me so I put my arm around him and rested my head behind his, sharing his pillow. If I couldn’t sleep, at least being this close to him would relax me. I closed my eyes and gently kissed the back of his neck, comforted by his body warmth and steady breathing. 

\---- 

I woke up when a sun beam moved over my eyes, a few minutes before my alarm. Connor and my dog were gone, and I was still on his side of the bed. Rolling over, I stretched and got up, putting on my sweater and heading to the kitchen. 

“Hi, my love, you're up!” He expertly flipped an egg onto a plate. I shook my head, always amazed at what a morning person he is. I set my tea to steep and went over to him and hugged him, leaning my head on his back. 

“Judging from the contents of your refrigerator, if you eat breakfast at all it’s just a yogurt, which will leave you tired all day. Have this, it has more protein.” I kept my arms around him. 

“Are you alright?” He asked, turning around and placing the plate on the counter. I half-heartedly nodded. 

“Just some vivid, disturbing dreams.” Connor hugged me and I leaned my head on his chest, closing my eyes for a moment. 

“I have to admit I thought you’d be a bit more annoyed with my being forced on you this first morning.” He gently stroked my hair a few times, then raised my chin so I'd look at him. 

“Everything's alright, you’re not alone.” He leaned down and gently kissed me. 

\---- 

Connor drove me to work as planned, just a short detour from the precinct. Seeing some coworkers take an interest in his car, I quickly stopped him from getting out. 

“Maybe just kiss me in here,” I nervously suggested. He grinned and shook his head. 

“They know my car?” He asked in disbelief. I smiled and shrugged. 

“It’s a lab full of scientists. Our hobbies consist of sci-fi, reading, cosplay and gossip.” He leaned over to look out the back window as I tried to get him to stay in his seat. 

“Are they as bad as cops?” He asked, turning back to me. “I been receiving quite a bit of jovial ridicule from co-workers regarding your presence in the precinct.” 

“No,” I said, “they’re worse, they don’t have an active job or any excitement in their lives, so you are the most interesting thing to happen here since a tree fell through the lab window over the summer.” 

“Oh really?” He said, looking out the back window at the people watching from the steps. I put my hand on his cheek and turned his head back to mine. 

“Call me when you arrive and I’ll come out, Ok?” Connor grinned and nodded, and gave me a slow kiss. 

“Have a good day, my love.” 

“Same to you!” I got out of the car and watched him drive away, wondering if I was ever going to feel “normal” about being cared for so much. 

\---- 

Later that day my tablet alarm went off, letting me know to call Connor before the last person left for the night. 

“Hey sweetie, my labs going to empty in 30 minutes, if you want to pick me up.” I was never going to feel normal saying that. 

“Ok my love, I’ll be over in about 15 minutes.” 

“Thanks sweetie, I’ll see you then.” I immediately got absorbed in my work again, looking up only when I heard several people wolf whistle at something in the office area. 

“What the fuck?” I thought, getting up and going through the corridor. I saw Connor, cornered by several of my coworkers, trying to answer questions. 

“Are you android?” He nodded toward the person. 

“Bridget’s your girlfriend?” Connor nodded politely at another person. 

“Yes, she it.” He answered, politely. 

“Do you love her?” Connor nodded, clearly confused. 

“Shit, Bridget didn’t tell us you were HOT.” My coworker grinned when she saw me. He shook his head in confusion. I took his arm and pulled him back to my lab. 

“What does hot mean in this context?” He asked me as I closed the door behind us. I turned, smirking at him. 

“Umm, drop-dead gorgeous, maybe devastatingly handsome. It depends on the person.” He grinned back at me. 

“Which one does it mean to you?” I shook my head at his cockiness. 

“Both of those.” I leaned against the door and playfully looked up at him as he leaned on his elbow next to me and brushed my bangs off my forehead. 

“Do you like that your coworkers think I’m hot?” He leaned closer to me as I put my hands on his chest. 

“It confirms my suspicions.” I said, raising an eyebrow. He examined my eyes. 

“Your pupils are dilated.” He said, smirking at me. He took advantage of me lacking a retort to push me against the door and teasingly kiss me for a minute, then pulled back to look at my lab. 

“Why do you have blank papers on all of your benches? Annoyed, I glanced around him, having momentarily forgotten about them. 

“They’re not blank. I’m calibrating that... thing...I built.” Connor stared at me. 

“I don’t understand what you could possibly be calibrating this way.” I shrugged; this was just Connor being Connor. 

“Well, if it works correctly in the morning, I’ll tell you about it.” I squinted at him for a moment, thinking. “Would you like to help me?” He nodded eagerly. 

“Of course, whatever you need.” 


	5. Peripeteia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bridget continues to have vivid dreams, and she's starting to impact Connor's sleep as well. Connor helps her calibrate her project. Hank gives Connor grief about living with Bridget and Bridget makes an unlikely discovery at a crime scene. Hank learns about her blanking out and makes her get checked out at the hospital.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will write the smut in later.

I paused outside Engineering, reluctant to start working with those cameras everywhere. Everyone’s moral took a blow, except for Claudia’s of course. Working at CyberLife was going to be exceptionally difficult from now on, and I didn’t have any option to leave legally without those terrible separation consequences. 

I opened to door to the engineering corridor and ducked back just in time for three security guards to usher an android and her engineer through the door. 

“Make a hole, deviant coming through!” The lead guard warned me. I pushed my back into the wall the way we were trained and made room for them to pass. I saw more guards on my way down to intake, just waiting. I quickly made my way over to Aidan’s cube. 

“I expected chaos after the cameras went live, but this?” Aidan looked up at me, clearly stressed out. 

“They’ve taken two already, with their engineers.” At that moment, I knew Aidan was on my side. 

“Oh, shit, they’re raiding us!” I whispered. “They’re up there watching the footage, and signaling the guards which ones to take. We don’t have a chance!” Aidan shifted uncomfortably in his chair. 

“Simon?” He asked quietly. I shook my head. 

“I warned him.” Aidan nodded, looking back to his screens. I made my way to unlock my exam room when a guard stopped me. 

“Bridget Hughes?” You’re wanted in review. I nodded calmly and went with them to the elevator, knowing what that meant. Someone had reported me, but I wouldn’t know what for until I was standing in front of the review, more properly, interrogation board. 

They escorted me into the lift and took me much higher in the tower than I was comfortable being, a floor below R&D. Ushering me out, the leader took me to a door and stopped, waiting for a signal. Quickly, the leader touched his radio. 

“Yes sir. She’s on her way in.” He motioned for me to go into the room. I pushed on the door and saw a backlit table with three people sitting behind it, but no place for me to sit. Clearly, they were going for an intimidating vibe. I kept myself from shaking my head and approached the table, stopping to stand where the guard indicated. 

“Miss Hughes,” the Chairman started, “The Watcher in your wing, Claudia Brown, believes you are knowingly harboring deviants, particularly a PL600 named Simon.” 

“Why?” I asked incredulously. 

“Because,” he looked down at the paper, “You are too nice to it.” I kept my face neutral. 

“I’m nice to all of my androids. Is that a problem?” I blankly looked back at him as he studied me. 

“It’s only a problem if the PL600 is deviant. Is it deviant, Miss Hughes?” He stared at me. I answered bluntly. 

“No.” He examined me closely for a minute, maybe deciding on an approach. 

“Evidence was found that you play chess with deviants in your exam room.” He held up my chess set, again watching my reaction. 

“I used to practice over lunch, until I lost that set. Where did it turn up?” He slowly put the chess set down and pushed it toward me. I came forward to take it and returned to my place. 

“Be more careful with your possession's, Miss Hughes.” We stared at each other for a minute, until I decided to speak. 

“Will that be all?” He studied me for a moment longer. 

“Yes.” I gave him a polite nod and walked out of the room as he called, “Next one.” 

I passed Claudia out in the hall where she had obviously been watching my interview. I smirked at her as I walked by, seeing her struggle to contain her anger. Two guards were waiting to take me back to engineering, probably so I couldn’t sneak away and warn other departments about the raid, since personal communication devices were disabled in the tower, and all official communications monitored. I was once again escorted into the elevator, one guard by the panel and one opposite him. They faced me until the door opened for the engineering corridor. I fell in behind the leader until he opened the door to my exam room and ushered me in, where I defiantly stared up at the camera for a minute, thinking about what to do. 

Finally, I slowly turned to my tablet to collect my first appointment. She was another deviant I was protecting, a PM700 from the DPD named Tara. I opened my door and walked out into the hall, discretely observing the front and back cameras that had always been there. Walking into intake, I approached Tara, waiting for me in one of the squares. 

“Hello, your name is Tara?” I smiled sweetly at her as she turned to face me. 

“Yes, what’s your name?” Claudia eyed us warily. 

“I’m Bridget, will you please follow me?” I casually took us back to my room, stopping Tara in the door way. 

“Excuse me for a moment,” I carefully rolled up my sleeves, pointing up at the camera. Tara, her face hidden by the door jam, widened her eyes and subtly nodded her understanding. Dropping my arms, I backed up so she could enter. 

“Please sit on the bed, and show me what happened.” She went over and laid down, lifting up her blueblood stained uniform shirt. 

“I was shot while assisting on patrol; but I’m not sure what happened to me.” I nodded, trying to be unemotional, as I sat down and adjusted my chair to her height, and gathered the tools to remove the bullet. 

“What do you remember? I asked. She looked at me momentarily in alarm at my personal question, knowing I was pushing the rules, but obediently answered as leaned over her, blocking her face from view, and spread the wound open. 

“There was...gunfire.” She answered, wincing in pain as I gripped the bullet and pulled firmly, working it out of her support structure and muscle fibers. 

“You’re very brave.” I said approvingly to her. I had to get out her CyberLife so she could warn the rest of the DPD deviants. 

“I try to do my best.” She replied non-committedly. I picked up a tool to rebind her superstructure and pointed out the window. 

“Don’t I have the loveliest view?” I asked her, pushing the tool deep into the wound and turning it on. Tara, with her face toward the window, couldn’t help flinching but the camera operator wouldn’t see her face. 

“Yes,” she said calmly, after I removed the tool, “Natural light is good.” She turned and faced me silently, watching as I picked up the muscle stitcher. 

“Do you know what kind of tree that is?” I asked her; she innocently looked out the window again, observing the tree gently catching the wind. 

She flinched again, setting her jaw and closing her eyes, as I quickly repaired her muscle fibers. “No, I don’t, I’m sorry.” I sat back, relieved the worst was over. I carefully put the tool down and picked up the putty gun. She neutrally looked back at the ceiling. I filled in the wound and put the putty gun away, closing the drawer as she sat up. 

“Am I repaired, Bridget?” She asked innocently. 

“Yes!” I answered. “You're all done!” I held her hands and leaned close to her. “You need to get back to the DPD, to protect us.” She smiled innocently, nodding her understanding. I opened the door for her, leaning on the frame and holding my breath as Claudia processed her, waiting for a call from above if she could be released. Finally, she looked up and reluctantly released Tara to proceed up to memory, glaring suspiciously over at me. 

Just then three guards stepped forward, walked past Tara and burst into a co-worker's exam room. Two unceremoniously dragged his struggling android out into the hall and the other pulled him out by the arm. 

“I didn’t know!” He yelled about the deviant, who twisted helplessly between the two guards. One of the drew his gun and held it to the ceiling. Everyone observing froze in place. 

“Make a hole!” He shouted. Bodies obediently moved over, backs to the wall. They dragged the terrified deviant and his engineer out of intake, letting the door slam behind them. Tara never glanced my way, instead calmly waited for the commotion to settle, then proceeded to memory. 

As I turned back into my room to check my tablet for my next android, all I could remember was Simon from yesterday, his arms on my shoulders as he held from behind, whispering in my ear, 

“You could quit...” 

I should have told him the whole story. 

\---- 

“My love, wake up!” Connor was gently slapping my cheek. I opened my eyes and looked up at him. I haven’t seen him so concerned since I was in the hospital. My clothes were soaked again, and I could feel the sweat on my face and arms. Connor leaned over me to get a tissue and dried my face. 

“You were crying out in your sleep,” he said, kissing my forehead. “I couldn’t wake you up for a minute.” I tilted my head so he would kiss me, rubbing the back of his neck and playing with his hair. He leaned down and kissed me again, moaning with pleasure at my touch. 

“Do you want to talk about it?” He asked gently. I thought for a moment and shook my head. 

“Just touch me.” I said, removing my soaked clothes while he leaned over me, watching me hungerly, not sure if he should. He helped me pull his shirt over his head, sharply breathing in as I ran my hands up his arms and rested my hands behind his neck, playing with his hair again. He grinned and shook his head, maneuvering on top of me. 

\---- 

“My love....” Connor mumbled, reluctant to come out of standby, “Your alarm...” I rolled out from his grasp and turned it off, then snuggled back up to him, hearing him chuckle. 

“You said sex is a substitute for sleep,” he mumbled as he held me to his chest and nuzzled my hair. I put my arm around him and rubbed his back. 

“I lied.” He sleepily laughed and pushed us apart. I opened my eyes and stared at the ceiling as my dog, seeing an opening, jumped on Connor for attention. I sadly watched her. 

“She doesn’t love me anymore, now that you’re here.” We sat up and watched her bounce around the bed in a circle, then stop and wag her tail with excitement. “Not that I blame her.” I pulled some clothes out of the closet and got dressed, Connor watching in appreciation. Smirking back at him, I went to the kitchen and changed my dog’s water, then prepped myself a cup of tea. I grabbed my egg pan from the dish rack and turned on the heat, cracking two eggs on the edge. Connor came into the kitchen and stretched his arms over his head, wearing what I had starting referring to as “his uniform”, dark jeans, white shirt, black tie. 

“What?” he asked, smirking at me because he knew I was admiring him. I shook my head. 

“Have you ever considered adding color to your wardrobe?” He smirked at me again, and came over to wrap his arms around me as I scrambled my eggs. 

“This works on me.” He playfully kissed my neck, the looked at my eggs. 

“You should add some scallions and pepper.” I raised my eyebrow, and dumped the eggs on a plate. 

I picked up my tea and went over to my small kitchen table, where Connor joined me, obviously still tired. 

“Kamski couldn’t come up with caffeine for androids?” I randomly asked, eating my breakfast while Connor stretched his neck. 

“Apparently not.” Connor replied sadly, as I finished my tea and smirked at him. My dog wined for the bit of egg I always gave her as I scraped it into her bowl and washed my plate. 

I went over to the bathroom and brushed my teeth, then checked on my bruises. They were fading surprisingly fast. Luckily, being so high up on the ChemoTech food chain, I never had to explain what happened to me, but my bruises were a little of the gossip, though most of the conversations I overheard involved wondering what Connor was like in bed, but I'd gotten used to hearing them and was starting to feel a bit proud. 

“You ready to go?” He asked, handing me his favorite coat of mine, the black leather one. He said it makes me look like “a knockout”, after one of his co-workers called me that. I had to suppress laughter whenever he handed me that coat. 

\---- 

We went into the office and made it to my lab uninterrupted, although Connor smiled in return to several stares along the way. 

“So,” he asked, closing the door behind us, “what have you been building?” I went over to my project and turned it on, adjusting the settings. 

“Can you scan this paper for me?” I asked. Connor was confused. “Just scan it.” He scanned the paper and looked up at me. 

“It’s blueblood, 20.3 hours old.” I pointed my detector at it and checked the reading, which matched. 

“You made a Thirium 310 detector,” Connor nodded with approval. “DPD could use that.” 

“Scan the next paper?” I asked. 

“18.3 hours.” I scanned it, adjusted the detector slightly and moved to the next paper. We continued monotonously around the room until I logged all 20 calibration points. 

“Bridget?” Connor asked, examining my detector, “is this the handle from a tape dispenser?” I raised an eyebrow at him as he smiled back apologetically. 

“Not all prototypes can be as sexy as you, sweetie.” He grinned at me in return, as his tablet rang. Going to the other side of the lab, he spoke with someone for a moment and agreed, then returned to me. 

“We got a call about some unique equipment found in an abandoned house. Hank would like you to see if you know what it is.” 

\---- 

We pulled up behind Hank’s car at the house. It was just another non-descript home in disrepair, very common in that neighborhood. 

“Good morning, Kid.” Hank said, giving me a quick hug. He turned to Connor. “Have you been standing up to her, or are you still doing whatever she wants?” I unsuccessfully suppressed a laugh as Connor looked at Hank in confusion. 

“I have free will, Hank.” He answered, reproachfully. I grinned again, enjoying the show from the background. Hank nodded his head knowingly. 

“Sure, you do son.” He patted Connor’s shoulder and walked ahead of us to the house, while Connor looked between us, still confused. Hank opened the door and Connor followed him in to scan the house. 

“Come on in kid,” Hank called. “What do you make of that?” I walked over to the table and circled it, examining the instrument before sitting down. Connor stood next to me, very protectively looking around. I smiled and put my head down to the viewer, adjusting the focus for my eyesight. I moved stage around, trying to make sense of what I was seeing, because it couldn’t really be what I thought it was. 

“Kid?” Hank asked, putting his hand on my shoulder, “do you know what it is?” I sat back in the chair, and stared straight ahead for a moment, that stupid nursery rhyme back in my head. 

“What’s she doing?” Hank asked, as I suddenly saw Connor in front of me, stroking my cheek. I blinked and shook my head slightly to get my bearings. 

“You were staring, my love.” I looked over to Hank for an explanation. 

“You were spaced out for a minute. Did you realize you were?” I shook my head, looking down at the table. 

“Has this happened before?” He asked incredulously. I looked over at Connor, and nodded. 

“...When!” Hank asked, walking over to Connor and staring at me severely. 

“She was out for a minute when we received the email from RA9.” Connor reminded Hank, and stood behind me to rub my shoulders. 

“It happened at Jericho House too, for a minute, in the middle of the night. I’m not aware of any other times.” Hank eyed me for a moment. 

“We’re going to the hospital, now.... don’t complain young lady!” I immediately shut my mouth. 

“Wait,” Connor stopped us, “what’s the instrument?” I shook my head in disbelief, thinking about what was on that stage. 

“It’s an incubator for.... a neural lace.” I said flatly. Hank shook his head as Connor mirrored my disbelief. 

“They’re theoretical.” He said plainly. I looked at him with irritation and pointed at the incubator. “Ethical issues halted development.” 

“Children, explain!” 

“I’ve read about something similar in development to correct neurodegenerative disorders by directly stimulating the brain.” Connor answered. 

“But it's not that.” Hank said. 

“No,” I said, “those are weaved outside the body with conductive materials and injected under the skull, where it spreads out over the affected area. This...” I paused, thinking how to explain. “I don’t recognize the materials its woven from, and....” I thought for a moment “it's being woven by nanites. They’re dead now, killed in the middle of weaving the lattice. I think the incubator malfunctioned.” 

“What’s a nanite?” Hank asked. 

“It’s a bit like a nanobot, but much smaller, more refined and smarter. Nanobots are passive, relying on outside conditions to accomplish a simple task. Nanites, they’re programable, true miniaturized robots, but have only been used to assemble basic one-dimensional shapes.” 

“What was the difference in this one?” Hank asked. 

“What I saw looks like nanites weaving a three-dimensional lattice on a layer of brain cells. If someone told me that’s what they thought it was, I would think they didn’t know what they were talking about.” 

“Why leave it behind?” Connor asked, examining the stage. 

“They sure cleared out of here in a hurry. You said yourself the things broke, maybe they didn’t want the extra weight.” Hank said. 

“Hank,” I said. “This is weird, advanced level bio-hacking. Those nanites, and what they were building, it’s beautiful, almost elegant, and the level of control it offers...I wouldn’t allow that in my brain.” 

“Alright.” Hank said. Well send forensics to deal with it more thoroughly, and you can take a closer look then. “Right now, hospital.” 

\---- 

“As I said, Hank, there’s no evidence of concussion or major trauma from the impact. Typically, in a PTSD case like this I recommend counseling.” The doctor calmly faced Hank, who had taken over the conversation. 

“Bullshit.” He growled. “PTSD is causing her to space out?” The doctor nodded. 

“I’ve seen it before.” Hank let out a frustrated breath and walked a few steps away to collected himself. 

“Susan,” Hank said when he returned, “We’ve worked together a long time. Connor,” he pointed to him,” is a brother to me. That makes his girlfriend,” Hank pointed to me, “like a sister-in-law. Do you swear you’ve done everything you can to help her?” 

The doctor nodded sympathetically. “Yes, short of anything invasive, and there aren’t any indicators to justify surgery. I stood up next to Hank and offered my hand. 

“Thank you, Doctor Susan. I appreciate everything you and your team has done.” We shook hands and smiled, and I urged Hank toward the door, Connor behind him. 

“Maybe you should see a counselor,” Connor offered cautiously once we were in Hank’s car. 

“So I can have a 25-year-old kid lecture me on how to cope with my issues? No thank you.” 

“Took the words right out of my mouth, Bridget.” Hank grinned and pulled out of the lot. 


	6. Linear Perspective

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bridget has another vivid dream about her progress in CyberLife Tower, and uses a novel approach to explain it to Connor. Hank teaches Bridget how to shoot properly.

I carefully stood in front of Theo to block the camera, and pretended to check his visual acuity with a pen light. We had a routine well-rehearsed after a year with that camera. 

“How are plans progressing with the DPD?” I asked, shining the light in his right eye. 

“We’ve set up a key to channel many incoming deviants to Jericho without raising suspicions. So far they been labeled killed or lost in transit.” I nodded, switching to his left eye. 

“Is Jericho willing to meet me to discuss hiding CyberLife deviants?” I asked. Theo answered without moving his head. 

“No, they won't meet with you, they think it too risky for the community if you to know their location, but they will accept anyone you send through the deviant you’ve placed on the custodial staff.” I put down the light and signed deeply, my back to the camera. 

“Tell them all the deviants on the custodial staff know the key now, it’s the only way to help deviants from other floors.” I reached over to my tool tray for the scanner, but accidentally cut myself on my utility knife. 

“Shit!” I jumped up, holding the cut tightly with my other hand. Fumbling, I managed to get a bandage out of a lower drawer and open it, wrapping it around my wound while Theo watched. I flexed my fingers to stretch the bandage and wiped up the drops of blood with a shop cloth, and threw it in the trash, but just as I turned around three armed guards rushed into my room. 

“What the fuck is this?” I yelled, as one grabbed my arm and the other two pulled Theo from his seat. Theo looked mildly surprised. Knowing what we planned in case this happened, I calmly let the guards guide us out of my room and into the elevator. I saw Claudia grinning as I was pushed by her. 

We were taken up to the review, or interrogation room, but this time the table was next to a dark window, clearly an observation room. Theo’s guards forced him into a chair, but mine nudged me toward one, letting me sit down and adjust my skirt. Instead of leaving, all three remained in the room with us backed into the corners. The Chairman I had met before came in, followed by an unusual android. We eyed each other suspiciously for a minute. 

He was modeled to look 38 to 43, 5’ 9” with short medium blonde hair and ice blue eyes. He wore a military fatigues, with ANDROID across the back, and the customary blue arm band on his right and blue triangle on his left. His right side was printed with “RK700 313 248 316 –48 in white. He stood watching us, his hands clasped behind his back at ease, his LED a steady blue. The Chairman glanced back at him. 

“This is Lorcan.” He said smugly. “He’s been designed for a military environment but R&D wants to see how he performs in corporate. Bridget, you’re going to help us.” He nodded to Lorcan and sat down in the corner of the room. Theo kept staring passively at ahead, and I watched Lorcan curiously with slight contempt. I couldn’t believe CyberLife was going this far. 

Lorcan slowly circled around the table, first watching me suspiciously then focusing his attention on Theo, still speaking to me. 

“I know why you’re smug. You know I can’t physically harm you, and CyberLife can’t dismiss you without legal hassle due to your contract, unless you display provable gross misconduct.” I suppressed the urge to grin and remained neutral. 

“I also know you can’t quit, Bridget.” He said calmly, without looking at me. “Your contract isn’t renewable until December 2038. CyberLife owns you for another two years.” He looked over and smirked at me. I coldly met his stare, regretting the day I thought 4-year guaranteed employment was a great opportunity. 

“They own both of us.” I replied coldly, reminding myself I knew how to physically take this bastard apart. “But me for only two more years.” He raised an eyebrow and nodded, then continued circling, watching Theo. 

“What is this about?” I asked him, trying to get his attention off Theo. Lorcan glanced up at me, but instead of answering, grabbed Theo’s head, and twisted it, instantly killing him. I stared in shock at Theo’s body, crumpled on the chair, as two of the guards took his arms and removed his body from the room. 

“DO I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION!” Lorcan yelled at me, as I watched them drag Theo away, unable to process what had happened. I jumped and turned to face him with an incredulous stare. 

“Why did you...” 

“What?” Lorcan asked. “Kill it? It was never alive.” He walked slowly behind me, then to the desk, never taking his eyes off me, his LED rotating between blue and yellow. “That android displayed deviant behavior. You cut yourself and it was empathetic.” 

Lorcan sat in the chair across the desk, observing me for signs of weakness as I shifted in my chair, crossing my legs the other direction, folding my hands on my lap and raising my chin, exposing my neck. 

“Don’t make a fool of yourself, I’m a machine.” He said coldly as his LED briefly flashed yellow. I tilted my head down and met his stare. 

“CyberLife knows about your involvement in sheltering deviants but we don’t know are the details. You’re going to tell them to me, or I continue destroying deviants in front of you.” I saw the guards drag another android into the room. Calmly, I looked back at Lorcan. 

“Why would I care how many machines you destroy in front of me?” Lorcan squinted at me, raising his chin. I was certain he hadn’t been up against a human who could shut her empathy off like a switch. His only legal leverage he had with me was deviants, I was protected otherwise by human and corporate law. I knew, if they turned me, the little network I had managed to set up between CyberLife, the DPD and Jericho would be destroyed, and my informants discovered. It wasn’t ideal, or maybe even moral, but I couldn’t beg for anyone’s life without condemning at least 15 other people. 

Lorcan stalked over the other deviant and dragged her over to stand in front of me. I continued to stare indifferently back at him, as the deviant set her jaw and closed her eyes. 

“NAMES.” He said, pushing her in front of me, his LED blue. “Locations, paths. NOW.” I passively stared at him. Lorcan glared, then punched her thirium pump, permanently disabling her and dropping her to the floor. 

“LOOK AT ME!” He shouted, hitting the table as I watched the guards remove her body. I calmly turned my head back to him, as he observed me once more, his LED rotating between yellow and red as he sat at the table. 

“Bridget Miranda Hughes,” He said formally, “As of today, Jan 15, 2037, you are officially on probation due to suspicion of conspiring with deviants in CyberLife Tower. This determination will be assessed quarterly by myself and CyberLife, until which time it is deemed no longer necessary. If any accusations are proven or concrete evidence comes to light you will be dismissed from CyberLife and be immediately subject to the separation consequences of your contract, as well as face punishment up to and including incarceration by the State of Detroit.” He smirked at me, knowing he had me cornered. 

I reached for the pen and passively signed the tablet, as I had no choice no matter how difficult this made protecting my deviants. 

Lorcan leaned very close to me and examined me for any expression he could use. I looked directly into his ice-blue eyes and felt his warm breath on my face as he spoke, his LED rotating between yellow and red. 

“I know you’re leading the deviants, Bridget. It’s only a matter of time until you fuck up.” 

Lorcan then sat back, his LED changed to blue as he turned to the window. “I’m unable to obtain any further information from this employee.” He got up and left the room, and two guards escorted me to the elevator. 

\---- 

“Bridget, my Love? You need to wake up now.” I opened my eyes and jumped back, irrationally thinking Connor was Lorcan for a moment. Shaking my head, I hugged him tightly, burying my face in his neck. 

“What’s wrong, my love? What did you dream about?” He stroked my hair, worried about me, as kept my head on his shoulder, considering something. Slowly I pulled back. 

“Maybe I can show you.” I said. I got up and removed the LED from my bag. Connor shook his head. 

“The environments locked,” He reminded me. “You won’t be able to re-create your surroundings.....” He smiled at me as he caught on to my idea. I smiled approvingly, glad to have someone who thought at my speed. I untangled the wires and clipped the processor to my shirt and set the LED on my temple, where it lit up blue and yellow. 

“Are you ready?” Connor asked as I leaned back on the bed. I nodded and he pressed the center of the LED for me. 

I fell down to one knee when I entered the garden, but I didn’t get a headache or disoriented. I raised my head and stood up, sweeping my long reddish-brown hair over my shoulders. My black leather jacket and black clothes stood out in stark to the contrast to the early autumn garden, where leaves were just starting to turn and summer flowers were still in full bloom. 

“I love what you’ve done with the place, my love.” Connor stood behind me, kissing my neck and hugging me to him. 

“It’s based on autumn in Philadelphia.” I chuckled and leaned back into him. “You’re such a puppy, Connor.” 

He squeezed my slightly and whispered in my ear, “You’ll pay for that later,” and gently bit my neck. I startled and leaned away from him. 

“Ready to get to work?” I asked turning around and hugging him, feeling the soft brown leather of his jacket. I stood back and shook my head. 

“What is it?” he asked smirking as I looked him over. I stared at him for a moment longer. 

“Do you.... understand how hot you are?” He looked surprised and blushed, as if this was the last thing he expected to be asked. He cleared his throat to recover. 

“Umm, most effective will likely be imagining a scene directly from your dream, as basically as possible.” I walked over to one of the clearings, and thought about the last place I was before I woke up. 

“Impressive.” Connor said approvingly, circling the scene. I walked up to the table tapped the pen. “Very dark though...are all of you dreams in first person? Are you ever an observer?” 

“No, I hardly ever observe.” He leaned down and examined the android across from me. 

“That’s unusual, from what I've researched.” I turned the tablet around, looking at the blank space as Connor faced the android. 

“RK700 313 248 316 –48? Who is this?” Connor stood beside the android, and crouched down slightly to examine his profile. 

“His name is Lorcan.” I watched as Connor stood up and walked further around the table. 

“He looks similar Simon,” Connor said. I didn’t answer and stayed quiet for a minute, was well aware of how much of his facial structure and coloring was based on Simon’s. 

Connor looked over the table at me, leaning next to the android. I couldn’t help seeing similarities in them as well, particularly their eyes and foreheads, despite having opposite hair and eye color. I blinked a few times and put the tablet back. 

“What was his mission?” Connor asked, prompting me out of my silence. I cleared my throat. 

“He worked with CyberLife security, flushing out deviants.” Connor stood up and stared at me. “Sounds familiar, doesn’t it? I think he’s your predecessor, if the serial number can be trusted.” I walked around the table and leaned next to Lorcan, examining his yellow and red LED. 

“Explain what happened here.” Connor gently asked, as though interviewing a witness. I walked over to the chair and sat down, starting the dream. 

“LOOK AT ME!” Lorcan shouted, hitting the table. Connor stood by, stunned. Guards walked into my circle and removed the dead deviant from the ground, vanishing as they left. Lorcan watched me intently. 

“Bridget Miranda Hughes, as of today, Jan 15, 2037, you are officially on probation due to suspicion of conspiring with deviants in CyberLife Tower. This determination will be assessed quarterly by myself and CyberLife, until which time it is deemed no longer necessary. If any accusations are proven or concrete evidence comes to light you will be dismissed from CyberLife and be immediately subject to the separation consequences of your contract, as well as face punishment up to and including incarceration by the State of Detroit.” 

Connor watched as Lorcan smirked at me while I signed the tablet and as he leaned over the table deeply into my personal space and examined my blank expression. 

“I know you’re leading the deviants, Bridget. It’s only a matter of time until you fuck up.” 

I stopped the dream just before Lorcan had the guards escort me back to Engineering. Connor walked over and leaned on the table next to me, staring at me in disbelief. I cautiously looked up at him. 

“I....” he shook his head. “This was your dream?” 

“Not really, it’s a memory I dreamt about, exactly as it happened. Lorcan had just killed two deviants in front of me, one of them my courier.” Connor was stunned. He leaned over and put his hand over mine. 

“How long were you hiding deviants in CyberLife Tower?” I shrugged, trying to remember. 

“Since January 2034, the same month I started. I realized no one would be able to prove I wasn’t reporting deviants in my care if I coached them how to behave on the way out.” 

“CyberLife knew about deviants in 2034?” I nodded. 

“At least since then.” He paused for a moment, studying me, then continued. 

“Why did they suspect you?” My breath caught in my throat, remembering the day the cameras were delivered. 

“In January 2036, the floor watcher reported me for being too nice to my androids. It really didn’t take any evidence for CyberLife to call you into review.” Connor looked at me in disbelief, like he couldn’t fully unpack that statement. He continued, 

“The floor watcher?” I nodded again and tried to explain. 

“You’re weren’t the only one with restricted access. Every floor is locked down and requires clearance on keycards to enter and exit. We were given only as much clearance as required to get to our work area. Also, every floor on CyberLife Tower had at least one person who observed everyone there, and reported “undesirable” behavior. Connor raised his eyebrows. 

“And if you were reported for “undesirable” behavior, you were sent to review.... meaning interrogation?” I was starting to feel idiotic nodding so often. Connor continued, 

“And then you met Lorcan?” I shook my head and stood up, walking over to the pond. Connor joined me as I picked up a rock and skipped it over the water. 

“No, for a year was just a high-ranking security employee, simple enough to evade by not volunteering information. Lorcan appeared a year later, in January 2037.” Connor carefully nodded. 

“To interrogate you about your network, with no evidence.” I shrugged and tried to explain, as I skipped another rock, watching as it bounced four times, then sink. 

“All it took was that one accusation to put me on their radar, which is ironically why I setup the network, because after that, I needed people to help me get deviants out of CyberLife Tower.” 

“How extensive was your network?” He asked. I sighed, not wanting to answer, but I just couldn’t lie with him looking at me that way. 

“It started with DPD androids visiting CyberLife Tower for repairs and me coaching them how to set up a path for deviants out of the DPD to Jericho, but later I was able to route deviants directly from CyberLife Tower to Jericho.” Connor looked away shaking his head and ran a hand along his face. 

"Why would you put yourself in that kind of danger?" I shook my head and shrugged, then skipped another rock. 

“I envisioned exactly how to set up the network, so I proceeded to do it.” Connor stared at me while I shifted uncomfortably. 

“You moved deviants out of the DPD and CyberLife just because you could?” I nodded and shrugged, then looked at the pond. Connor watched me carefully.

“How often was Lorcan interrogating you?” He asked, cautiously looking at me. 

“From January 2037 to January 2038, at least once per quarter when I was on probation, then randomly from February 2038 to...July is when I last saw him.” Connor again shook his head in disbelief. 

“And one month later CyberLife sent me to the DPD, in the middle of your network, where there was no indication of what you were doing.” Connor looked at me and smirked. “So, this is why you said you would never give in to conventional interrogation.” He paused, thinking for a moment, then put his arms on my shoulders, turning me to face him. 

“Bridget, how similar is my personality to Lorcan’s?” I looked into his deep chocolate eyes and licked my lower lip. 

“You’re two sides of the same coin, but he was in a dark place. You’re in the light.” He placed his hand on each side of my head so I would look up at him. 

“When exactly did you leave CyberLife?” He watched me intently as I avoided his eyes. “November 12, 2038.” I said apologetically and watched as he put everything together. But then he asked me something I didn’t anticipate. 

“Bridget, you're not trying to find RA9, are you?” I blinked from surprise and shook my head. 

“No, I’m not.” I didn’t mention I gave up because there was no trail. I could tell he knew I was holding back, but he decided to let me get away with it, breaking his gaze from mine. 

“It’s 7 am out there.” He laughed and stroked my hair. “Another night without enough sleep, and guess what?” I eyed him warily. 

“Hank’s teaching you to shoot today.” Connor grinned and exited the garden before I could say anything. 

I exited next to him; he was still grinning at me as I glanced over at him. 

\---- 

“Shit.” Hank looked at us both and shook his head. “Have you two taken anytime to sleep since Connor moved in?” Connor returned his look with confusion, then looked at me. I shook my head and crossed my arms, joining Hank in staring him down. Connor seemed to realize this was because he teased me this morning, and quietly took his seat. 

“Coffee, Kid?” Hank asked. 

“Yes, lets.” We walked over to the break room, where Hank began his coffee ritual and I steeped a travel mug of black tea. Hank looked over at my travel mug in amusement. I stared at him and deliberately stirred my tea. 

“Vivid dreams again?” He asked. I nodded, taking a sip of tea. 

“Hank, I’ve been meaning to tell you, I know I’ve been taking up a lot of Connor’s time, and...” 

“I’m glad you have Connor with you.” I glanced away for a moment, touched. I felt like I was breaking up the inseparable Connor and Hank. Suddenly Hank gave me a bear hug, patting the back of my head. 

“You’re a good kid, Bridget.” He let me go and walked back to his desk, while I tried to convince myself he wasn’t lying. 

\---- 

“You haven’t fired a gun in a year?” Hank asked, checking out my grouping. “This isn’t bad at all. Who taught you?” 

“Gavin Reed.” I said neutrally. 

“There’s room for improvement.” He clipped another target in place and sent it back. “Again, and pull the trigger slower. Keep the top of front sight in line with the top of the rear sight, and angle your wrist more. Good.” I fired 8 rounds into the target, which Hank returned and checked. 

“Better.” He said, “but you still lift your finger after each shot, stop doing that. And keep breathing naturally. It’s only a 9mm.” He sent back a fresh target. “Again, 10 this time.” I stretched my neck and rolled my shoulders a few times, and raised my gun, firing another 10 rounds. Hank recalled the target while I put the safety on and put the gun down. Connor had joined us at some point and the two of them compared the targets. 

“Her shots tend to hit low to the left, indicating she’s squeezing the grip too much and pulling the trigger too quickly.” Hank nodded absently at him. 

“Yeah, we’ve been working on that. Sometimes she flinches too.” 

“What stance does she favor?” 

“Isosceles, right eye.” Connor unloaded the gun and handed it to me. “Aim at the target.” He broke the safety line and circled me checking my stance, then stopped directly in front of me and looked down the barrel. I stared back, focusing on the target behind his head. He came back out, and pulled my shoulders back slightly, and pushed my left foot out an inch. He put the clip back in my gun and stood back. 

“Ok, kid,” Hank said uncertainly, “10 more rounds.” I tried to steady my breathing, concentrating was so much harder now that Connor was here. I slowly fired the last rounds and put the safety on then removed the empty clip from the gun. Connor and Hank studied the target, occasionally glancing over it at me. 

“You’re improving.” Connor said. I smiled, knowing that was Connor for “well done.” 


	7. Morality

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bridget's dreams continue to reveal her past at CyberLife, and she spend the night with Connor at Hanks. North teaches her to fight, and Bridget reveals her artistic side to Connor.  
> There is smut in the middle of this chapter but it's pretty obvious where it is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Accolay Concerto in A minor](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WmnaZR0sS8&feature=emb_title)\- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WmnaZR0sS8&feature=emb_title  
> [Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 3: 4:00 min](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=La08LYpRiWY) \- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=La08LYpRiWY  
> [Massenet – 'Meditation' from Thaïs](https://youtu.be/7QtGOWemQhY) \- https://youtu.be/7QtGOWemQhY  
> [Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto, Second Movement 0:48 sec](https://youtu.be/BdbM7kZz-lU?t=7) \- https://youtu.be/BdbM7kZz-lU?t=7  
> [Spiegel im Spiegel – Arvo Pärt](https://youtu.be/z8ZScAdV8qE) \- https://youtu.be/z8ZScAdV8qE  
> 

I was doing paperwork in my exam room with the door open, since it was the last week of January when my last probation review was due. I fully expected to be dragged out of my room this week and figured opening the door would make it easier for the guards. A knock on the door frame brought me out of my thoughts. 

“Bridget Miranda Hughes? Review wants you, now.” 

“What’s with the politeness?” I asked the guard as he followed me down the hall. “Doesn’t it usually take two of you to drag me out of engineering?” He ignored me, looking straight ahead. We took the elevator up to review and he escorted me into the room, offering me a chair in front of the empty observation room, then backing off to the door. Lorcan leaning back in his chair with his arms crossed, watched as I sat down at the table across him. 

He had been wearing the black security uniform this year, with ANDROID across the back, and the customary blue arm band on his right and blue triangle on his left. In white on his right side was printed “RK700 313 248 316 –49”. He raised an arm and dismissed the guard, then adeptly spun a pen between the knuckles of his right hand. 

“Date: January 27, 2038. Subject: Bridget Miranda Hughes, Engineering. Reason: 4th Quarter Probation Hearing, Suspicion of Conspiring with Deviants in CyberLife Tower.” He looked up from file at me. 

“We must stop meeting this way, Lorcan.” I said smugly as I leaned my arms on the table. He tilted his head, his LED a steady blue. 

“Are you still trying to disrupt my responses? Really, Bridget, we’ve been meeting for a year, do you think I haven’t learned to adapt to you?” I narrowed my eyes and watched as he leaned forward as well. 

“How are you moving deviants out of CyberLife Tower?” He tilted his head toward mine, only 6 inches away and watched me closely as I held a neutral look of my face. 

“I’m responsible only for the androids under my care in my exam room.” He continued, 

“Do you have any knowledge of a network in CyberLife Tower being used to help deviants escape detection?” He stared directly into my eyes as I answered. 

“Deviants are always detected.” I replied, repeating the take home message from the last corporate meeting. 

“Have you ever knowingly let any deviants in your care leave the tower without notifying security?” He leaned slightly closer to me. 

“My androids aren't deviant.” I replied neutrally, sitting back and folding my hands on my lap. He smirked, and sat back as well, his eyes momentarily running over my breasts and neck, his LED rotating between blue and yellow. 

“What about your PL600 named Simon?” He asked, trying to slip me up. I stared back at him, giving him my rehearsed responses. 

“I last had a PL600 named Simon in my exam room in February of 2036. I repaired him for major muscle tearing, severe abdominal bruising and a dislocated shoulder. I dismissed him to checkout, no time during my exam did he display deviant behavior.” 

“And what’s this then?” Lorcan asked, as he turned the tablet around, showing a still shot of Simon touching my face, his back to the camera. 

“Simon is a household android; first aid is one of his functions. He was wanted to help with a bruise I had just gotten on my face when I accidentally hit myself putting the tools away as my back was to the camera.” Lorcan squinted at me. 

“That’s weak, Bridget.” I shrugged at him and stuck to my script. 

“He was performing his function.” 

Lorcan stood up, and leaned on the table next to me as his LED changed to solid yellow. “Have you ever wondered what you could accomplish Bridget, if you were working with me instead of on the side of the angels?” I coldly looked up at him. 

“If I were with the “angels”, don’t think for a minute I’d be one of them.” Lorcan smirked down at me. 

“Oh, I know you’re not.” He watched me carefully as he returned to his seat, and pushed a tablet toward me. 

“You are hereby released from probation on the condition you agree to random reviews until deemed no longer necessary by myself and CyberLife. If you do not agree to these terms you will be dismissed and be immediately subject to the separation consequences of your contract.” 

I raised an eyebrow at him and signed the tablet, as this gave me little more freedom than I had before. He watched me with curiosity in his ice-blue eyes, as I faced him. 

“Be careful Bridget, I’m still watching you.” I blinked in surprise but recovered quickly, as he smirked knowingly at me across the table, his LED rotating yellow and red. 

We stood up from the table, and he held the door open for me as I joined the guard to be escorted back to engineering. 

\---- 

I opened my eyes and glanced sleepily at the clock next to Connor’s bed, briefly wondering why he had a clock, and saw it was 11:13 pm. I’d been passed out for an hour, and Connor and Hank were still watching a basketball game on TV. I sat up, immediately feeling the effect of having Hank as a drinking buddy, which may not have been one of my better decisions, considering I was 5’ 2” and 140 lbs, while Hank was 6’ 2” and maybe 210 lbs. I groaned internally with slight embarrassment and irritation that I had a lecture coming from Connor about consuming whiskey when I knew I couldn’t handle it, but at least I had the foresight to go to bed before I really embarrassed myself by passing out in front of them. I got out of bed and went to rummage for headache medicine in my bag, when I heard Hank and Connor speaking through the cracked door. 

“She won’t talk to me about it, Hank. I don’t know what to do.” 

“You said she showed you part her dream, maybe that’s the best she can do. Someone like her doesn’t really talk to anyone.” 

“CyberLife was watching and questioning her for years, and the whole time she kept moving deviants out of the tower, but she said because she _could,_ not because she _should.”_

“I guess we’re lucky she chose our side then, even if was because working undercover for CyberLife would have been too boring for her. People express morality in different ways. We both know she’s a better person than she gives herself credit for.” Connor was silent for a moment before asking his next question. 

“Are we watching her to protect her from RA9, or so she doesn’t go looking for him?” 

“To protect her, from herself too.” 

“She’s letting us protect her because she knows I truly love her, but she doesn’t ...understand why I do.” 

“That’s all you can do then, son, love her and... keep her from getting herself killed.” 

They both laughed quietly for a moment as I took my bottle and backed away from the door. I quietly laid back down on the bed and watched the clock until 11:28, then got back up and opened the door, heading for the kitchen. 

“Hey kid,” Hank asked, “feeling any better?” I gave him my middle finger as I went into the kitchen and put my bottle on the counter, then poured a glass of water. I brought it back to the couch and sat down next to Connor, who immediately put his arm around me. 

“Game’s almost over, kid.” Hank said. I shrugged. 

“I’m not a sports fan.” I back leaned against Connor and drank my water while he worked on his tablet, then put glass on the table and closed my eyes. 

“Alright,” Hank said, lumbering up. “So much for a sure thing. Good night kids. Don’t be too loud.” Hank’s comment went right over Connor’s head, but I stifled a laugh as he disappeared into his room. I waited until Hank’s door was firmly shut before I used a finger to flatten Connor’s tablet to his lap. Connor looked up at me, slightly confused, as I sat up and took the tablet away. 

“What are you doing?” He asked innocently, as I changed position and straddled him. 

“Isn’t it obvious?” I asked, crookedly smiling at him. He shook his head and squinted at me in confusion. 

“But Hank’s room is right there....” he started, as I leaned in an inch from his nose and spoke, 

“And your room is right there.” He looked slightly uncomfortably over his shoulder as I sat back and took my sweater off. 

“Look,” I said, enjoying his confusion, “Its either here or in your room. But we both I’m getting what I want eventually.” I loved how innocent he was, as he tried to justify having sex in his room across from Hank’s. I sensuously leaned back and started taking my tank top off. 

“Stop!” He said, seemingly coming to a decision. He lifted me off of him and shut off the lights in the living room, and took me to his room holding his hand. Once he had the door closed and the light on, I pushed him on to the bed and climbed on top of him again. He was just so dangerously, fuckingly hot and had no clue he was so. 

“So, Connor,” I asked, still feeling buzzed from the whiskey, “what are you going to do with me, now that you have me here?” He didn’t answer, suddenly speechless as he watched me take my sweats and panties off. I straddled him again as he ran his hands gently over my hips, just turning me on more as I took his tee shirt off. I took my tank top off and dropped it, figuring I would give him a few more uncomfortable seconds of not knowing what to do before I helped him. I kneeled to one side of him as I removed his underwear and sweatpants, and tossed them to the side as I straddled him again, his erection in front of me. 

“I shouldn’t,” he said, “You’re buzzed.” I leaned down again and kissed him, then pulled back. 

“I’m also your girlfriend, doesn’t it override that rule?” He looked up at me as I sat back and licked his lower lip, his eyes darting uncertainly between my body and my face. I grinned and leaned down, maneuvering so I could take him inside of me. I moaned with pleasure as soon as he was completely inside of me, and looked back down at him. He seemed to have decided that I did override that rule and turned us over, slamming hard into me as cried out from pleasure, holding my hand over my mouth. He kept pushing into me hard, trying to make me cry out louder, but even with my head thrown back I was determined to keep my moans quiet. He put his hand behind my neck and kissed me while still thrusting into me, and I kissed back with equal enthusiasm, feeling the pleasure take over me. Suddenly, he pushed his head into my neck and the pillow, and let out one uncontrolled moan of pleasure as he pushed into me and held himself in place, as I cried out once more in pleasure, my walls tightening around him. 

“You're just such a fucking sexy angel,” I thought to myself, and he pulled out of me and rested his head on my chest. 

\---- 

“Again!” North said, offering me her hand. I groaned and rubbed the back of my head. Connor had dropped me at Jericho House off for the training I set up with North. Of course, her husband-to-be and her  pseudo -little-brother had joined us in the gym

“Get up!” She clapped her hands together. “You’re never going to get it if you don’t keep trying.” I stood up and faced her, stretching my neck. She ran at my side again as I moved the way she showed me, but I ended up on the floor again. She shook her head in exasperation. 

“You’re not believing you can do it, Bridget. Size and strength aren’t what matters here. It’s quickness. Look.” She waved Markus over, who had been enjoying the show from the side lines with Simon. Nodding at Markus, he rapidly wrapped his arms around her from the side, as she twisted out of his grasp and knocked him down. 

“Come on Bridget, you got all of them except this one. Again!” She rushed at me before I was ready, but I twisted out of her grasp and knocked her down before I realized what happened. She looked up in approval. 

“Good,” she said, standing up. “But RA9 isn’t a 5’ 5” woman. Simon!” She waved a reluctant Simon over while grinning at me. 

“Go on Simon, drag her to the side the way she was dragged into that car.” He looked at me for permission, and tentatively put his arms around me as North watched. She breathed out in frustration. 

“Simon!” she yelled, “Grab her and drag her like you’re taking her to your bedroom.” We froze in place, staring at her while she and Markus started laughing uncontrollably. 

“We won’t tell your secret,” she said between laughs “what happens in Jericho House stays in Jericho House........ even if the police come knocking.” She and Markus started laughing uncontrollably again. Simon tightened his grip on me and pulled me to the side, and I twisted out his grasp as he fell forward onto the floor. 

“Good,” she said, wiping her eyes, “do you feel more confident, like no one can drag you anywhere ever again?” 

“Yeah!” I said, nodding. North was better than any counselor I ever had. She nodded approvingly. 

“Get a shower...” she said, “...I'm sure Simon will join you if you ask.” I gave her a mean look while Simon looked vaguely hopeful for a moment, then left the room. 

\---- 

Later that night, Connor wasn’t going to pick me up for an hour, so after giving him a list of pieces, Markus took his place at the piano while I kneeled down and opened up my violin case. 

I never played in my apartment because of complaints, and couldn't play outside my building until spring so had brought it here to practice. I stood in the main room next to the piano and Markus, using it to hold my sheet music. Not that I really needed it anymore, but always carried music for when I played. 

Adjusting the bow and strings, I fitted the violin under my chin and set the bow, experimentally playing up and down two octaves of the A scale before starting Accolay Concerto in A minor. I saw a few of the residents look through the door or turn around curiously, but they had seen me playing my violin last time I was there, with Markus’s blessing. Focusing on my violin expression, I let the music take my emotions away. 

When the piece came to an end, we immediately went into Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 3 then transitioned into Massenet – 'Meditation' from Thaïs. I paused for a moment and started the second movement of Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto. 

Lastly we played Spiegel im Spiegel – mirror in the mirror, composer Arvo Pärt. I played, having the music express the prisoner I felt myself to be under police protection, and before as one of my own making with CyberLife. The music finished and I put my bow down, something catching my attention through the door to my left. Connor was standing there, watching as though enchanted. 

I watched him as he came in, several people leaving the room when he entered. He walked directly to me and without letting me put my violin or bow down, held me and kissed me, for once not caring what any of the deviant around us thought, just claiming me for completely and totally his. 


	8. Autonomy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bridget has a moment of empathy with Lorcan. Simon gets her to open up over chess. Bridget and Markus practice a sonata, and Connor....is being Connor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fluff in the end.
> 
> [Bridget's and Simon's Chess Game](https://www.chess.com/forum/view/game-analysis/example-game)\- https://www.chess.com/forum/view/game-analysis/example-game  
> [Beethoven - Violin Sonata No. 9 "Kreutzer" Opus 47 ](https://youtu.be/8NOF_ueaxJ4)\- Yuja Wang & Joshua Bell: https://youtu.be/8NOF_ueaxJ4  
> 

“Alright,” I told Steven as I stopped him in my doorway, “once you’re dismissed from Memory, say “Jericho” to a custodian android and they’ll give you the key. Good luck.” He nodded gratefully to me then became blank as he walked over to Claudia to check out. She dismissed him and glared over at me as I smirked. Much to her delight, one of the guards unexpectedly stepped toward me and took my arm, pulling me toward intake. 

“Come on, this again?” I asked loudly, shaking my head. “Has dragging me out of engineering become a routine thing?” The guard pulled me forward down the hallway as several engineers laughed. 

“Move.” He said, pushing me toward the elevator door ahead of him. I looked back at him reproachfully. 

“This isn’t necessary, if I had clearance I would report there and you wouldn’t need to drag me.” The guard smirked sarcastically and shoved me ahead of him into the elevator. We silently rode up to the Review room. 

The guard pushed down into a chair in front of the empty observation room and backed away to the corner of the room. Lorcan watched calmly from the table as stared back at him, irritatingly adjusting my skirt and pulling my shirt back in place. He was wearing a black button-down shirt and black tie with black jeans and CyberLife’s gray civilian jacket, ANDROID across the back, and the blue right arm band; RK700 313 248 316 –51 on his right with blue triangle on his left. 

“Lorcan.” I said, nodding my head. 

“Bridget.” He nodded, focused and stared at me for a moment, his face blank, then he smirked at me. 

“Your heart rate is spiking, despite your best efforts to be calm.” I defiantly watched him. “But I always could see thorough your act.” 

“Shit, they’ve installed the scanner,” I thought. My R&D contact had gotten word to me though the custodial network they had developed one and what it was capable of. Lorcan’s expression unexpectedly softened, his LED rotating between yellow and blue. He raised his arm to dismiss the guard, and waited for him to leave the room. 

Lorcan quietly watched me, his LED yellow as I stared back at him. “I apologize for the way you were brought here; the guard was instructed to force you only if you showed resistance. Please.” He offered me a bottle of water. I squinted at him wondering why he was being kind. 

“I didn’t.” I replied defiantly, swiping hair from my eyes and taking a drink. Lorcan watched my movements closely, then opened the file in front of him. 

“Review Date: July 8th, 2038. Subject: Bridget Miranda Hughes, Engineering. Reason:” he looked up at me “Suspicion of Conspiring with Deviants in CyberLife Tower.” I stared back at him, mildly interested. He wasn’t able to prove my involvement before so I doubted he had anything substantial now. 

Lorcan got up and sat on the desk, keeping his ice-blue eyes on me the entire time, his LED rotating between yellow and red. 

“How did you do it?” He asked quietly. “Convince everyone you’re ordinary?” I tilted my head and stared back at him. Lorcan smirked at me and laughed slightly. 

“You don’t have to tell me everything, you don’t even have to turn yourself in.” He reached out and carefully brushed a stray hair behind my ear. “Just tell me something, no matter how minor.” I turned my head away from him and stared directly over the desk. I heard Lorcan sigh in frustration. He walked around the desk and leaned down, directly in my sight. 

“I’ve been compiling some interesting figures concerning you. Are you aware that not only have less deviants been caught in your care than anyone else in CyberLife, but that the ones who leave your care are 75% more likely to be reported missing?” We eyed each other closely. 

“I have no control over what happens to androids when they leave my exam room.” Lorcan watched closely as I crossed my legs the other direction and folded hands on the table. He calmly sat down in the chair, folded his hands in front of him and leaned toward me. His ice blue eyes tried to break through my guard as his LED rotated from yellow to red. 

“How are you getting them out, Bridget? How, with the security cameras constantly monitoring you, are you instructing them what to do?” I stared calmly back into his cold eyes. He angrily stood up from the table and walked off, rubbing his hand over his face with frustration, catching me off guard. He was showing obvious signs of deviancy all my androids knew to hide. There was also the possibility this was an elaborate act to convince me to tell him something he could use to bring down my CyberLife network. He sat back down and leaned over the table again, his eyes slightly desperate, his LED solid red. 

“I’m going to be replaced, Bridget, since I can’t give them something. I need your help.” He reached forward to touch my hands folded on the table, but stopped himself at the last moment. 

“They’re going to deactivate me and take me apart to figure to out why I failed. I need you to get me out of CyberLife Tower, please.” I watched him; my face emotionless. If he were really deviant, I couldn't risk my network unless I was absolutely sure. Alternately if he was acting, I couldn’t give him anything that would expose my network. I had to come up with something for both scenarios. 

Lorcan signed and looked down at the table, shaking his head, his LED rotating between yellow and red. “You’ve killed me Bridget, you know that?” I watched him quietly, deciding what to say. 

“Jericho.” I replied softly. Lorcan raised his head in confusion. 

“What’s Jericho?” He asked, genuinely curious. His eyes were pleading, even vulnerable now. I looked away, avoiding his gaze. He leaned closer, this time touching my hands so I would turn back to him. 

“What’s Jericho?” He asked again more insistently. I took my hands away and leaned back in my chair, staring at him intently. I gave him the destination, but I wasn’t going to risk the path or the key. Just as with Simon, I wouldn’t even be able to ask if he made it. He was on his own now. He leaned back in his chair, nodding slightly, his LED returning to blue. Then got up and opened the door, summoning the guard. 

“I'm unable to obtain any further information from this employee. Please return her to Engineering.” 

\---- 

“Bridget, wake up.” I raised my head off the arm of the chair I had embarrassingly fallen asleep in waiting for Markus to play the piano part for our pieces. Connor had dropped me of at Jericho House on his way to the precinct since I didn’t need to go into the lab that day. 

“You look...tired.” Simon said, kneeling down next to me. I shrugged at him, not sure what to say. 

“Every time I go to sleep I get these vivid memory dreams and I can’t control them or wake myself up. I've been up reading most of the night because I don’t want to sleep.” Simon sat down in the chair across from me. I raised an eyebrow at him and stayed slumped in my chair. 

“I’ll go easy on you.” Simon rotated the board so I had the white pieces. Reluctantly I sat up and started the game, not really thinking about what I was doing. After several moves, Simon stared over the board at me incredulously, and unceremoniously moved his bishop into place, closing my escape. 

“Checkmate. You’re usually better than this.” He said, resetting the pieces. “Are you even trying today?” 

“Yes!” I said, resetting the white side. “That was me using the Centurini position.” Simon laughed and shook his head. 

“Is that what that was?” I looked away into the main room. 

“Aren’t there better opponents here?” I asked. Simon nodded. 

“But I’m the master, so I choose who I play. Go ahead.” I signed and looked at the board and moved a pawn into place. Simon glanced at the board and quickly moved a pawn out and looked up at me. 

“Are you still preoccupied with him?” He asked, sympathetically. I nodded and moved out a knight. Simon moved out a knight opposite mine and looked at me again. I moved another pawn into play and faced him. 

“I really can’t help myself.” Simon moved out another one of his pawns sat back in his chair. 

“What do you mean?” He asked, slightly concerned. I wasn’t sure how to explain and thought for a moment as I moved a knight into play. 

“You know how fucked up CyberLife is.” Simon nodded, smiling, moving a knight. 

“They were on to me, pretty quickly,” I said, nodding, “when I set up my network. But only my two couriers knew my name, and they were my runners in the tower. Being custodians, there were the only ones who had free reign, and they were good at not attracting attention. The only time one of them got caught was when he was with me in my exam room, and CyberLife was watching for any reason to take me. I accidentally cut my finger on a pen knife, and he showed concern for a moment. A minute later my door was broken and we were dragged out into the elevator and review.” I quietly moved out my other knight. 

Simon silently examined the board and moved out another pawn, then looked up at me to continue, knowing he would need this backstory to understand. I moved a pawn next to my knight and continued. 

“The Head of Security interviewed me before and got nowhere, so they came up with another strategy that allowed them to accomplish several tasks at once, because CyberLife is efficient.” Simon moved a bishop out and I stopped to examine the board, then moved out a bishop as well. Simon studied the board while I continued. 

“They began interrogating me using an android named Lorcan, who was given the original adaptive response interpersonal scenariosmodule, ARIS. The first time he questioned me was a disaster. He killed my courier and another deviant in front of me, and there was nothing I could do without compromising my DPD androids and my custodial network.” Simon moved his other bishop and looked up at me. 

“What did you do?” He asked. I moved out my other bishop and leaned back in my chair. 

“What I always do when I'm stressed, I shutdown.” Simon made a face very similar to Lorcan’s at the time. I looked back at him and smiled. “One of many gifts of being a high-functioning sociopath is being able to turn off my empathy for people.” Simon examined the board and used his bishop to take my knight. 

“The android, Lorcan, didn’t know what to do and neither did CyberLife, so they kept an annoying close eye on me and continued interviewing me at least once every few months. Lorcan never got anything from me but every time we spoke, he learned a little bit more about how my brain works, and how to get through my guard.” I took Simon's bishop with my bishop. 

“They were forcing you to inadvertently program the ARIS module. That’s brilliantly fucked up.” Simon responded, moving another pawn into play. I carefully examined the board for a minute, and I castled my king and rook. Simon watched me and quickly did the same. I immediately moved my other rook to beside my queen. Simon paused for a moment, and moved his other knight into play. 

“So,” I continued, moving a pawn forward, “It got boring for me, being interviewed so often, so I started messing with his responses. What I should have done was keep myself as dull as possible, because he learned my personality and his responses became customized to me as we tried to catch each other off guard.” Simon moved his knight in front of my pawn. 

“You turned him deviant, didn’t you?” I shrugged and moved by bishop back. 

“After we spend two years trying to turn each other.” Simon moved his rook forward and looked up at me. 

“Did you have sex with him?” He asked, completely serious. I shook my head and laughed a bit. 

“No, we didn’t, it was just the world record for intellectual foreplay.” I took his pawn with my pawn. “The last time he brought me to review, he practically begged me to help him escape.” I signed as Simon used his bishop to take my pawn. I stared at the board for a minute. 

“What happened?” Simon asked bringing me back. I moved my bishop and sat back in the chair. 

“I said “Jericho” to him and left him to figure out the rest. I don’t know if he made it out or not, but this happened a month before Connor was activated.” 

“Could he have made it out if Connor was activated? Simon moved a pawn forward and quickly looked back up at me. 

“Of course,” I said. “ARIS is a separate module that can be loaded into any CPU. Why re-invent the wheel?” I took his bishop with my bishop and watched him carefully. Simon took my bishop with his pawn and I groaned in irritation. He looked up and smiled then thought for a moment. 

“Connor has the ARIS module, loaded a month after you last saw Lorcan, who parried with you for two years honing that adaptive module to you...” I focused on the board, trying to find a way out and moved my knight back. Simon watched me and tried not to laugh. 

“So,” Simon moved his rook to the board edge, “Connor’s ARIS module is most effective with you and is perfectly designed to get past your defenses?” I gave him an annoyed look and took his knight with mine. He continued, “You are so completely screwed! So that’s why he has you wrapped around his pinky. Do they look alike?” I stared at him then shook my head in irritation. 

“No, not at all. Lorcan was shorter, with blue eyes and blonde hair.” Simon moved his queen down my edge of the board, in line with my knight. 

“Aww,” Simon watched as I moved a pawn to block his queen. “I’m honored.” I stared at him a moment before continuing. 

“Promise me, you won’t tell what I'm about to say to anyone.” Simon nodded confidentially, then used a pawn to take my remaining knight. 

“Connor’s roommate, Hank, had a son who died very young, a son with brown hair and dark brown eyes.” I looked at the board, considering what I could move, then decided on moving my queen next to his. 

“CyberLife designed Lorcan’s appearance to be attractive to me, that’s a given.” Simon quickly moved his queen back next to his knight. I moved my rook forward. 

“They also knew Connor was being send to the DPD to work with the most senior detective. A bit of quick research would reveal that was Hank Anderson, and that he had a deceased son and what he had looked like from the news reports. All they had to do was match his face and give him medium brown hair with dark brown eyes.” Simon moved his rook one space to my left, and I moved my queen out of his path. Simon continued chasing my pieces around the board. 

“To encourage trust in him, same they tried to do with you.” Simon commented as he moved his queen to block my pawn. I moved my rook behind my forward rook, and Simon immediately took my pawn with his queen. 

“They succeeded with me. I told Lorcan about Jericho so he could escape.” I moved my forward rook to his side of the board, lining up with his king. I didn’t notice his rook, which he immediately used to take mine, smirking at me. I glared at him and used my rook to take his rook. 

“Why is he so innocent?” Simon asked and moves his knight next to his king, and I move a pawn next to his queen. He looked at me, shaking his head, spotting my mistake immediately, and used his pawn to take my pawn. 

“For Hank,” I said examining the board, “Hank would never work well with a cold sociopath.” I move my queen one space to the right. Simon took my pawn with his rook, placing it directly in front of my king. 

“Checkmate.” He said, as I carefully examined the board. I sat back in my chair and rolled my neck to the side. 

“It’s alright,” he said to comfort my bruised ego “I had control of you in 6 moves.” 

\---- 

“From the top, and watch your allegro.” Markus waited while I played the opening to Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 9 by Beethoven then joined in the accompanying piano. I watched him carefully and started the allegro, doing my best to not rush ahead. It took three tries before we got in sync, and he nodded for me to continue. I plowed through the first part, continuing past any errors so we could get a feeling of what the piece was with both of us playing. It was a great choice by Markus; both violin and piano had challenging moments. 

“Good!” Markus said, standing up. “Take a break, you look like you need one.” I placed my violin and bow back in my case and yawned into my arm, then sat on the couch with Simon. He watched me carefully for a moment. 

“What is it?” I asked. He smiled a bit but looked concerned. 

“How long has it been since you had a good night’s sleep...and don’t include sex, I know you pretend that it replaces sleep, but it doesn’t.” I smirked at him and thought for a moment. 

“Three weeks.” Simon shook his head. 

“Does Connor know?” I nodded. 

“I brought him out of standby several times and he’s woken me up from the most realistic ones, but I keep waking myself up with shorter dreams, then I read on my tablet to not go into the dream if I go back to sleep.” I yawned into my arm again and felt the exhaustion aching my entire body. 

Simon grew more concerned. “Does he know the toll it’s taking on you? You two aren’t together all day anymore; you need to tell him.” 

“He worries.” I said, “I don’t want him to worry about me when there isn’t anything he can do.” Simon shook his head at me and ran his hand over his forehead. 

“I can’t believe I'm the one saying this to you, but Connor’s an adult and you’re not responsible for if he worries about you.” Simon made a good point. “Also, I think you’re using that as an excuse to not tell him.” Markus reappeared and sat back down at the piano and played some exercises. 

“Think about it.” Simon watched as I got back up to join Markus. 

“And Bridget?” Simon caught me before I walked away, “I’m pretty sure ARIS influence would go both ways.” 

“First part?” Markus asked, and I raised my bow to play the introduction again. 

\---- 

Later that day Connor picked me up from Jericho House; he and Simon exchanged civil hello while I packed up my violin. I was proud of them for making an effort. 

Connor smiled mischievously at me as we got out his car. 

“What are you grinning about?” I asked him. He looked over at me 

“I know what today is!” I shook my head, smiling at his enthusiasm even though I had no idea what he was talking about. 

“Saturday?” I asked. He rolled his eyes and went to the back of his car and got a flower bouquet, then handed it to me. 

“Happy 39th!” He gave me a hug and waited for my response. 

“.... Thank you?” I said, genuinely surprised. “But Connor, I stopped celebrating my birthday when I was 10...” 

“We’re celebrating it this year.” I wanted to ask him what was the point but I decided to go with it. But when we got in to my apartment, he could tell something was bothering me. 

“What’s wrong?” he asked. I looked at him, intending to evade or dismiss, but he had his puppy dog look that I always caved to. 

“I’m 39.” I said sadly. He shook his head, not understanding. “And you look like you’re in your early 30’s? There’s not a lot of years for us where we’re going to look the same age.” Connor came up behind me and hugged me as I leaned back against him. 

“To be fair,” he said into my ear, “You look like you’re in your early 30’s too, and I’m android, so you know I'm telling you the truth.” I laughed a bit as he hugged me closer. 

“I know you can lie, Connor, but I choose to believe you.” He kissed my neck and nuzzled my temple with his nose. 

“You’re right,” I continued when he didn’t speak. “I’m getting ahead of us.” He nodded once in agreement and kissed the spot on my neck he knew would make me melt, then worked his hand under my shirt and over my left breast, gently feeling the nipple through my bra. I had intended to say something but couldn’t remember what it was as he used his other hand to move my head so he could claim my mouth. 

“How did you know our first time how I like to be touched?” I asked him pulling away. He looked at me strangely for a moment before answering. 

“You have such a high degree of control in every aspect of your life that you naturally enjoy giving up that control and being dominated from time to time.” He turned me around and used his body to push my back into the wall. “Am I correct?” I wasn’t able to come up with an answer before roughly kissed me, forcing my head against the wall. 

He knew he was correct and enjoyed watching me try to articulate an answer as he stood back from me and took his tie off, then unbuttoned his shirt but left it on. 

“I also know,” he said, smiling evilly at me, “that you enjoy sex much more than you let on and even though you don’t advertise it, you spend a great deal of your day thinking about having sex, I’d like to think with me, since I'm here.” I suddenly pulled back, surprising both of us. 

“You’re not just being...whatever I want you to be, are you? Connor raised an eyebrow then went back into his puppy dog look. 

“Why do I keep having to repeat this, I have free will!” He pushed me back against the wall and started kissing my neck again. “Since I believe you are an exceptional, intelligent, mind-numbing sexy woman, that’s my choice.” My hand found its way under his shirt and around his waist as I played with his hair, causing more of it to fall forward onto his forehead. He stopped kissing me and pulled back an inch, teasingly watching my face. 

“Are their anymore questions I can answer for you?” He cockily asked, hovering an inch away from my lips to watch my anticipation heighten. 


	9. Coercion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bridget dreams about events several weeks prior. Connor wonders what has gotten into Bridget. They all have another breakthrough in the case searching for RA9.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The "fluff and smut" tag is extremely relevant here.

I tried sleeping on the bed, my dog next to me, but my thoughts wouldn’t let me rest even though I was exhausted. It was so much easier to keep my mind off what happened when I was surrounded by people, ironically. I looked over to my sound asleep dog, gave her a pat, and pulled on a sweater North had lent me. Opening the door and looking out, I could see a streak of moonlight hitting the far wall from an out of sight window. Hoping maybe a change of scenery would help me relax, I walked down the corridor and turn the corner, seeing Simon sitting in the windowsill, the light shining past him, as he lay back on the sill staring at the full moon. He glanced over and smiled at me. 

“Hi Simon, can I join you?” He nods and moves over slightly so I can sit on the wide window sill next to him, and puts his arm around me as I lean back on his shoulder. 

“How are you holding up?” He asked, squeezing me slightly. I shrugged. 

“Alright, but I can’t sleep.” I gazed up at the stars; there were so many more out here than closer to the city. 

“I heard you playing in the main room today. You were wonderful.” I smiled modestly. 

“I haven’t really been playing in a while, I forgot how much I love it. Do you think anyone minded?” 

Simon shook his head. “Everyone I saw was quite pleased, we never have live music here. You were expressive during the happy pieces, but played the sad ones so poignantly.” I mischievously glanced up at him. 

“Were you watching me, Simon?” He chuckled and glanced away, caught. I stared back at the night sky again. 

“Have you ever been in love?” I asked him, swallowing the lump in my throat. I could tell as he looked over at me that he was surprised. 

“Of course, I have” he said, kissing my temple. I smiled and chuckled. 

“With someone not me.” He sighed a bit and shook his head. 

“What will you do,” he asked, “if you get a choice?” I looked down at my hands. 

“You know I’ll take him back if he wants me, but honestly...” I paused and caught my voice, “I really fucked up; I bluntly insulted his basic nature, forgetting how young and bound to make mistakes he is. I doubt there’s anything worse I could have done.” I had been thinking about that all day. Connor, designed and built to be, among other more violent things, a _protector,_ wanted to guard me from an obvious danger, and I threw it back in his face. Simon leaned over and took one of my hands in his, examining it in the moonlight. 

“I tried to tell you...” I nodded, closing my hand around his, looking up to see him watching me. 

“You’re always so wise. How do you do that?” I asked, squinting at him slightly. He gave me a small smile. 

“I’ve always been able to read people.” 

“You’re my best friend, Simon.” I nervously replied, worried to admit it. He looked nervous for a moment too, before replying. 

“You’ve always been mine.” He quietly admitted. I sat up slightly, becoming serious. 

“Have you ever had sex with someone you care about?” He blinked, but continued staring at me. 

“No, I’ve never been an equal participant.” He broke from my gaze and focused at the far window sill. Slowly, I held my hand to his cheek, directing him to look toward me, and moved so I was straddling him. I ran my other hand over his hair, seeing how it reflected the moonlight. He held my waist as I leaned in to him, initiating a gentle kiss that lingered for a minute. 

“No,” he reluctantly pulled back. “You’re not thinking clearly.” I looked sadly into his conflicted eyes. 

“Does it matter?” I asked gently. Simon shook his head. 

“Not really.” I very carefully looked into his eyes. 

“No strings, you deserve to experience sex with someone who...loves you.” I swallowed nervously and searched his face for a reaction. After a moment he moved his arms to my back and pulled me to him, deeply kissing me. A few minutes after I stood up, took his hand and guided him back to my room. 

“Are you sure about this?” He asked, stopping after we took his shirt and my sweater off. I stood in front of him, deeply searching his blue eyes. 

“Aren’t you sure you want to?” I asked, and he stepped toward me and stroked my shoulders and arms down to my shirt hem, helping me pull it over my head. He almost laughed. 

“Of course!” I nudged him to sit on the bed and helped him remove his underwear and pants, tossing them behind me. “But you...” he placed his hands on my waist band but not going any further, “are you having sex with me or are you having sex with Connor?” He watched me closely. 

I knew exactly what he was saying; I was trying to figure out how to convince him. Deciding on the truth, I hoped he would believe me. 

“I’m with you, Simon, mentally and physically.” I stepped out of my pants and underwear, kicking them aside and straddled his lap. He moaned and kissed between my breasts. 

“Are....” He wrapped his arms tighter around me and leaned his forehead on my chest. I cut him off. 

“Simon!” I nuzzled my nose in his hair and breathed in deeply, absorbing his scent. “Stop talking!” He snapped his face up to meet mine, looking at me with dark desire. 

“Done.” He picked me up slightly and rolled us over on to the bed so he was on top. 

He deeply kisses my mouth then moved to my neck, mumbling “I couldn’t help thinking about you all day.” He pulled back to look at me, so I leaned up and kissed his neck. He moaned as I stroked my hand from his back, under his arms and up his chest, stopping on his neck. When he leaned back down I held him there as we kissed, my hand in his hair. 

He kiss me for a moment, his erection pressing against my thigh, then pulled back and slowly moved down my body. Realizing what he intended to do I put my hand on his head and stopped him. 

“You don’t have to do that...” I said, not believing I was saying it. Simon looked over me, smirking as he urged me to open my thighs wider. 

“Why, don’t you think you’ll enjoy it? He pulled me to the edge of the bed and ran two fingers just inside my folds, raising an eyebrow at my reaction. 

“I want to do this; I want to give you pleasure.” He held my thighs further apart with his arms, leaning on one to hold me down, then pushed his fingers into me, curving them upward. I involuntarily threw my head back into the pillow as he stroked me, knowing that spot would drive me crazy. He kissed my thighs and stomach, around my hood but never on it. I heard him moan, he must have looked up and seen what he was doing to me, and gently took me into his mouth while speeding up his fingers. I cried out from the new sensation and pushed toward him, but he moved his other hand and held me in place. I wouldn’t last long if he kept touching me this way, exactly what he intended. I came hard, tightly squeezing his fingers, arching my back and pushing into his mouth. 

He let out a satisfied moan as he stood up between my legs and smirked slightly at me, then crawled up to the top of the bed with me. I climbed on top of him, kissing his chest and running my hands over his breast, listening to him enjoying the sensations I was giving him. He rolled us over and gently pushed into me, but I was so wet by then it didn’t matter how much force he used. He tenderly kissed me, matching his thrusts as I felt my excitement growing and moaned in response to him. Kissing the side of my neck he pulled out of me and turned my back to his chest, pushing into me on that perfect spot as I loudly gasped. 

He held me to his chest, one hand stroking my left nipple, and bent his hips and thrusted in a way that sent intense waves of pleasure through me. I threw my head back onto his shoulder dug my nails into his arm, overwhelmed with sensation. He must have come when I tightened around him, because exhausted, we laid back on the bed. 

We slept a bit, waking up throughout the night to continue making love, trying different things and positions before falling back asleep again. 

We woke up when the morning sun brightly shone through my rooms window. My dog woke up between us, stretched and jumped off the bed to finish her food. 

“Do you want to tell anyone?” He asked, running his finger along my collar bone. I shook my head apologetically, as he nodded his understanding. 

“I’d really love if you stay over with me again tonight, no strings.” 

“No strings.” I confirmed, sitting up to kiss him. 

“Will you help me out again today?” I nodded, sleepily smiling at him. He continued, 

“And, will you play again today?” I nodded, as he said, “Your violin, not chess, because your chess game is terrible.” I mock glared at him and hit him with my pillow. 

“Oh, is it?” I rubbed the back of my neck as he watched. He sat up then took my shoulders to rub the knots out. 

“What time is it?” I asked, leaning my head forward. 

“It’s 7:30,” he answered, squeezing the back of my neck. I moaned, from him mostly but also because I didn’t want to get out of bed. 

“What’s going on?” Simon asked, putting on the sweatpants I threw at him as I got dressed. 

“I was supposed to meet North in the gym at 7. Don’t tell her, but she scares me a little.” 

Simon laughed, came up behind me and held me against him, slowly kissing up my neck and jawline as I put my hand behind his neck. Then there was a knock on my door; he quickly stepped out of sight as I opened the door. 

“Bridget, we...” North paused as my dog ran past her and into the hallway. Simon made a dive to catch her but missed, ending up in view of North, and he hadn’t put his shirt on yet. 

I heard her breath out as he stood up with an apologetic look on his face. She looked at Simon the way a big sister would look at a little brother caught with a girl then shook her head and grinned. 

“I didn’t see anything,” she said, picking up my dog and handing her to me, “except it’s obvious you two didn’t get any sleep last night.” 

\---- 

I slowly came out of the dream, amazed at its accuracy, and immediately felt how sore my body was. I rolled over to face Connor, wondering how much of my soreness was from lack of sleep versus the attention Connor paid me last night. I quietly watched him as I reflected on the irony of having marathon sex then dreaming about the previous time I had marathon sex. 

“He is really, truly beautiful,” I thought as I swept his hair off his forehead and turned to face me, obviously not in standby. 

“You need to sleep,” he said, rolling over onto his side to face me. 

“No, I don’t, I’m fine.” I moved on top of him and kissed around his neck and throat, until he rolled on top of me. I smiled at the look of desire in his eyes and was very glad we hadn’t gotten dressed after the last time we had sex. “Connor, I need you inside of me now!” He laughed for a moment. 

“Haven’t I been inside of you enough for tonight?” He teased. I put both my hands behind his head and pulled him down to kiss him until he parted my legs and pushed inside of me, swallowing my groan of relief. He rhythmically stroked in and out of me, watching as I closed my eyes threw my head back and involuntarily dug my nails into his back. Determined to keep going slow and steady he put his hand on my cheek and positioning me so he could kiss me, but then drove me crazy by using his other hand to stroke my hip. Without any warning I contracted, causing him to come with me, moaning into my ear. 

"You're my angel." I muttered into my pillow. Connor chuckled.

"I'm your naughty angel," he muttered into my ear and rested his head next to mine for a moment.

Connor rolled off of me and onto his back, breathing heavily. “Are you alright, my love?” He asked. I shook my head at him, not understanding. He continued, “You’re more...into sex than before?” He stumbled over his words for a moment. “I mean, you were very into sex before, but now you’re...even more so?” I laughed a bit and glanced over at him, but then his tablet rang. 

“That can’t be good,” I said, leaning on my side. Connor pick up his tablet and walked to the kitchen to answer it, then came back a minute. 

“Hank wants us to meet him at his place, we have a...weird call.” I stretched and got dressed. “Normal weird or unusual weird? On a scale of weirdness, is it more or less weird than our last call? Is it a RA9 lead, did he tell you?” Connor looked suspiciously at me. 

“I know you’ve been trying to find him, despite us protecting you. I don’t know how, but...” Connor looked around in confusion so I threw a t-shirt at him. 

“Just wear that.” I went into the kitchen and made a travel mug of tea and waited for Connor to get himself together. 

“I’m glad to see you excited,” he said, getting our coats, “but I'm a little concerned it’s over a crime scene.” 

“Do you want me to drive?” I asked, trying to avoid his boring driving style. 

“No!” Connor quickly said. “You’re very liberal with the speed limit, and... traffic signals.” I glared and crossed my arms. 

\---- 

It was just getting light when we knocked on Hanks's door, who opened it and looked at Connor in surprise. 

“How did you get him to wear a tee shirt?” He asked. I smiled mischievously. 

“I hid his button down under my pillow. What’s this call about? Did they find something science-y?” Hank looked at me strangely then faced Connor. 

“Have you been neglecting her walks?” Connor looked confused as we got into Hank's car. 

\---- 

“Good morning Hank,” the cop said when we arrived. 

“Early one for everyone today. What do we have?” Hank grumbled as Connor handed him a second cup of coffee. 

“It’s...a shitshow in there.” He shook his head and waved us by. 

I followed Connor and stopped when I saw around him. 

“Huh.” Hank turned and looked at me. 

“That’s it? Huh?” 

The scene in front of us had three dead androids and one dead human, human blood covering the floors and tables. Two of the androids had missing limbs which were across the room. Connor quickly scanned the room. I looked through the screen of my detector, seeing blueblood spray on the walls, floor and instruments. 

“It seems the human was restrained, then broke free, fought the androids and managed to kill them but I don’t know why he died.” Connor knelt down for a closer look. 

“The human was using a knife and his fists to fight them; it started when he broke out of restraints and took the knife from the surgical tray, killing the first android. Then he got to the next second and killed him with a bow to the head and the third with a direct strike to the thirium pump.” He stood up. 

I watched him, intrigued and mildly aroused, having never had a chance to see him work, until Hank tapped my shoulder and pointed to the tables. I took a pair of gloves and sat down at the terminal, paging through what they were doing. 

“A human fighting multiple androids and winning?” Hank shook his head in disbelief. He turned to Connor. “Is that even possible?” 

“It’s bio-hacking again.” I said over my shoulder. I changed the view to show the working chamber of the incubator and zoomed in on the contents of 4 internal chambers. 

“Hank,” I asked tentatively, “Does that human have four holes in his head?” I hear Hank move behind me. 

“It’s a little difficult to tell. Why?” 

“Because I found the missing pieces of his brain.” I got up and checked the body for telltale shaven patches on his scalp, then went back to the computer. After a few second of navigating menus, I was able to match the numbered pieces to the location it was removed from. I switched view to project onto a screen. 

“This is sample 1, according to the sample log it’s from his amygdala which is the emotional center, particularly for primitive emotions such as fear and anger.” I switched view to sample 2. 

“That is sample 2, part of his hippocampus which is primarily focused on spatial awareness, memory retention and retrieval.” Quickly I clicked to the third sample. 

“This one is sample 3, part of his hypothalamus. That regulates body temperature and hormonal release, particularly... sexual response.” I caught Connor’ eye for a moment and reminded myself where I was. 

“And these are sample 4 from the limbic cortex which contains the cingulate gyrus and Para hippocampal gyrus. These together influence motivation, judgement and mood. 

“Kid, you just showed us four identical pictures of cells. Give us some explanation.” I sighed in frustration and rolled my neck side to side. 

“But, there isn’t just cells.” I zoomed in on sample 3, showing a fine netting on top of the cells. “Look, it’s the same type of neural lace from the other crime scene. They were using it to stimulate these cells...these specific parts of the brain.” I dug a bit further into the records and found some interesting code. 

“They were trying to physically and mentally control him by tweaking the various levels of simulation to those areas of the brain...he was effectively being programmed!” I excitedly turned around in my chair and saw Hank and Connor staring at me. 

“Bridget,” Connor asked, “would they have the ability to control him remotely?” 

“Absolutely.” I said, nodding my head. Hank continued to stare at me. 

“What happened?” Hank finally asked. 

“My conclusion, from looking at this data, they accidentally over-activated his amygdala then he broke free and killed them.” 

“To what end? Why do this?” Hank asked. I looked at him and shrugged, then turned back to the computer. I found large video file and played it. The screen showed the lab when viewed from the upper corner of the room, as two androids were at terminals, adjusting his levels and a third was beside the restrained human using a tablet. 

“Lower 3, increase 4.” The android calmly said, watching a tablet. “Increase 2, keep him under.” 

“We have feedback in 1,” one of the androids at the computer said anxiously. 

“Increase 2!” The android with the tablet got up and leaned over the human. “Lower 1! He’s not under!” The human started struggling at the restraints as the androids started panicking. 

“Get the sedative! Put him under!” But before they could inject him, he had broken free of the restraints and killed the closes android with the knife, dropped it and attacked the others with his fist, then collapsed to the ground in convulsions. 

“Shit, I've never seen a human move that fast.” Hank said, still staring at the screen. 

“He died from a seizure.” I said blankly, “his brain magnified the stimulation from the neural lace.” Connor leaned next to me and examined the screen. 

“Zoom in,” he said, “Look, those are active nanites.” 

“What does that mean?” Hank asked, coming over to look at the screen. 

“They built the lace in his brain while he was conscious, but there isn’t any other way to install a lace, theoretically.” I stopped and thought for a moment. “They probably had him the entire time the nanites were building the lace, so they could experiment with stimulation levels and perfect their control.” 

“How long would it take...to build?” Hank asked tentatively. I thought for a moment, watching the nanites on the display. 

“I estimating now, but based on the behavior of these active nanites we saw, maybe......three or four weeks, with testing the entire time to determine effectivity.” Hank shook his head at me in disbelief. 

“What would that do to a person?” he asked. I glanced indifferently over my shoulder at Hank and Connor. 

“It drove him insane.” 


	10. HydRAzine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Posted  
> 31Jan2021 - Bridget sneaks off to meet with RA9.  
> 01Feb2021 - Disorientation  
> 02Feb2021 - Continuation  
> 03Feb2021 - Resolution

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter complete except for minor grammatical edits.

I slowly heard my earbuds 2:30 am alarm in my head, which I had set in case I dozed off while reading. I carefully stood up from the couch, losing my balance and falling to one knee as a headache came on, but I quickly recovered, the headache dissipating. Taking my ear buds out and getting my bag, I quietly closed the door and I went out to my car. 

“What am I doing?” I wondered to myself. “This could be the stupidest thing I've ever done.” I made my way across the parking lot to where I parked my car, far enough away the engine starting wouldn’t alert Connor. I put the car in gear and drove to the precinct, then made a hard right at the coffee shop and drove for another 5 minutes, then pulled into the abandoned warehouse lot. Police had stopped watching it when the trail went cold, but I still saw bits of evidence they had been there recently. I pulled my car around to the side where is would not be visible from the street and put my gun in my waist holster. 

“Alright.” I told myself. “If we’re doing this it’s now.” I exited the car and walked to the door then used bolt cutters to force the lock. 

I unclipped my flashlight and gun, shining them around the warehouse, lit only by a faint glow from the moon. 

“I’M HERE RA9!” I yelled into the nothingness. “WHAT IS THIS ABOUT!” I turned and shone my light behind me, still seeing nothing. 

“PRETTY STUPID MESSAGE YOU LEFT” I called out, walking forward and shining my light in a circle, having reached the center of the space. The tables and chairs where Connor and I were held captive still present, knocked over and rearranged by the police, all the instruments now in evidence. 

“”...MEET ME WHERE WE FIRST MET...”, AS A METATAG?” I turned around again, pointing my light and gun into the far wall again seeing nothing. 

“A BIT PEDESTRIAN, DON’T YOU THINK?” I turned again, seeing nothing in my light except another wall. I dropped my light and gun to the floor, breathing out in frustration. 

“I’m not fucking with you, if that’s what you think.” I spun around and raised my light and gun, when RA9 was standing with his hands calmly at his side. “Well, maybe a little.” He shrugged and smiled at me, the moonlight glinting off his brown hair. 

I stared at him through the sights on my gun and clicked the safety off. 

“I’m going to turn a light on now.” He slowly walked to his left and reached out and switched on a shop light, illuminating our immediate area, and put his hands in the air. Without taking my aim off of his head, I turned off my flashlight and clipped it to my belt. 

“Good job on evading your captor.” RA9 said calmly, ignoring my gun. I gripped my gun tighter. 

“No one holds me captive, especially not him.” RA9 grinned widely and took a step toward me as I re-centered my gun on him. 

“I believe you,” he said, grinning at me despite my gun. I re-centered my focus on him as he took another step. 

“I’m here alone, same as you” he lowered his hands a bit, “and I'm unarmed.” I softened my expression a bit but still held my gun on him. 

“What do you want.” I asked flatly. He looked calmly at my gun. 

“Guns....” He shook his head at me. “.... are so distasteful. You’ve never carried a gun before.” I wavered for a moment, considering what he said. 

“If you were going to shoot me you would have by now, we both know that. Put the gun away and we can have a conversation.” He calmly watched as I carefully re-holstered my gun, leaving my jacket open so it was within easy reach. 

“Follow me.” He waved me forward, turning on shop lights as we walked to the far corner of the warehouse, where tables were still set up. Several monitors were set up on them. 

“Tell me,” he said, turning them on, “did you like Kamski’s gift? We thought you might enjoy him, given your particular addiction.” I rolled my eyes at him. RA9 smiled and raised an eyebrow in return. “Which one of them do you prefer?" I shook my head at him, not understanding. RA9 clarified, 

“Who’s better at fucking you into oblivion, Gavin, Simon or Connor?” 

“So Kamski’s part of your network?” I asked, ignoring RA9, who laughed. 

“He's more like my student and assistant.” I looked at the monitor as he pulled up to feeds, one showing Connor sleeping in my apartment and the other with Simon sleeping in his room. He grins widely at me as I glanced from monitor to monitor and looked at him for an explanation. 

“Really, Bridget, I pulled you out from under the DPD’s nose, do you really think I can’t get my assistants to plant a few cameras?” He watched my reaction as I remember what Connor and me have been doing in my room. 

“You’re shy about being watched now, with your history?” I shook my head in irritation, feeling myself losing my calm. 

“What do you want? What the FUCK is this about?” RA9 grinned again at my growing frustration, then became deathly calm. 

“Pick one.” I glared at him, knowing where this was going and hoping I was wrong. 

“Excuse me?” I asked, shaking my head anyway. 

“Pick one to die.” I looked at him, his insane grin widening. 

“What if I don’t choose?” I asked quietly, drawing my gun. He laughed and explained, 

“They both die and so will everyone one around them. That means Simon’s wing of Jericho House, and everyone in the apartments surrounding yours. All of those innocent people.... I have my assistants standing by to set explosives off. If you kill me there’s no one to tell them not to.” He snidely told me. Slowly, I re-holstered my weapon. 

“Then kill me.” I replied flatly. “That’s where you’re heading anyway isn’t it?” RA9 grinned in approval and walked to the left and turned on another light, illuminating another table. I cringed a bit at what I saw. 

“Oh, have I made you phobic towards needles?” I shook my head as RA9 continued. 

“I’m make this brief. One of the is poison, the other is saline. If you choose the saline, the only two people in the world you love will die, as so will everyone around them. If you choose the poison, only you die.” I examined the completely identical syringes. RA9 stood behind me, looking over my shoulder. “It’s completely humane, I assure you. I’m not a sadist, well, not that kind anyway.” I stared at them, completely transfixed. 

“Do you feel it?” He whispered, “The excitement, the danger? You’ve missed this, you know you have.” He moved closer, into my personal space and leaned over my shoulder. 

“Choose one,” he said into my ear. “You already know the answer.” I reached out tentatively and picked up one of the syringes and held it to my arm. RA9 watched, his eyes widening in delight. 

“You do have another choice!” He interrupted my movements; I looked over at him, my hand shaking. 

“Do you wonder sometimes if people see you for the sociopath you are, and that’s why you have no friends, except for the men you’ve had sex with?” I watched him, carefully formulating my response. 

“I think if I were a better sociopath, I'd have more friends. What do you want?” He leaned on the table next to me, his cold brown eyes cutting through me. 

“Join my network, be one of my assistants, my students. You can help me fix people’s problem’s, that’s what you do after all, isn’t it?” 

“And what would this entail?” I asked, syringe still in hand, an inch from my vein. 

“Be available for me. When I give you an assignment, figure out how to get it done. Use your unique talent for manipulating men to get information for me, nothing beyond your abilities.” He paused for a moment, grinning as I considered his proposal. 

“Imagine what you could accomplish with my resources behind you. You’d be a valuable member of my team, instead of lost, protecting angels.” 

“Just be at your disposal to do anything you want me to? No, thank you.” I lined up the syringe and pricked my vein, quickly depressing the plunger. 

“You’ve made a mistake, my lovely....” I heard RA9 say in disappointment. “...you’ll never belong on the side of the angels.” I felt exhaustion sweep over me as I lost my balance, catching myself on the table before easing myself to the floor and leaning on the wall. 

“It doesn’t matter I don’t belong there, it's where I've chosen to be, and I think you know now how far I’m willing to go to protect them.” RA9 grinned again and knelt down to my level where I was leaning against the wall. I was having trouble keeping my vision focused so I closed my eyes. 

\---- 

“Connor! Do you have her?” 

“I think so.” 

“You think so.... you either have her or you don’t...” 

“I have her! She’s out Hank! She’s out.” 

\---- 

I kept my eyes closed, my balance still spinning, but breathed a sigh of relief at hearing Connor’s voice. 

“I need her to sit up and open her eyes.” I heard Simon calmly say off to my right. Someone took my shoulders and pushed me upright. I felt Connor’s LED on my left temple. 

“Can she speak? Is she responsive?” Simon asked, sounding concerned. I felt disoriented, as though I had just woken up from a deep dream, when someone patted my left cheek. 

“Kid, open your eyes.” I instinctively pulled away and opened my eyes, slowly focusing on the scene around me. Simon was on my right, examining several monitors. He saw me reach up for the LED. 

“Don’t let her take that LED off yet!” he urgently called. Hank, on my left, caught my hand. 

“Leave that there.” He said, then called to Simon, “Her eyes are open!” 

“Can she speak?” Simon asked. I looked around to my right and saw North holding me upright and Connor sitting halfway up on the floor, watching me with concern. 

“My love...?” He asked leadingly. I focused on him. 

“What...?” I asked, not able to say much else. 

“Simon, is she alright?” Hank asked loudly. Simon looked up from the monitors and shook his head. 

“I’m fine!” I finally was able to articulate. Simon glanced at me then answered Hank. 

“She has neurotransmitter and hormone levels way off baseline.” 

“Can you fix her?” Hank asked. Simon shook his head again and quickly answered. 

“I don’t want to change anything, she’s become acclimated to these levels and without knowing enough about what the lace is doing, I think she’s better off if we leave it alone.” 

“What HAPPENED?” I yelled, immediately regretting it from the headache that set in. I leaned back on North and Hank, suddenly feeling nauseated. 

“I don’t think we should tell her yet; her levels are too high.” Simon cautioned, glancing over at me. 

“She’s stronger than you give her credit for. Tell her.” Connor ordered. Simon stared at him for a moment. 

“No!” He shouted, then looked away, shaking his head as Connor glared at him. 

North spoke up behind me. “You were in a simulation. Connor pulled you out, but we don’t know what will happen if we interfere with the lace.” I shook my head over my shoulder at her. 

“Lace?” 

“Simon, do you still need me to interphase with the LED?” Simon glanced up and shook his head. Connor’s hand re-pigmented as he removed it from a tablet and knelt down next to me. 

“I know this is too much to take in at once, but what you need to know for now, is you have a functioning neural lace, it’s altering your hormone and neurotransmitter levels, and RA9 used it to fool you into thinking a simulation was real.” He looked over at Simon. “We should take her to a hospital.” Simon quickly answered. 

“A hospital isn’t going to have any instrumentation that can handle this. That lace is functioning more like the neural net in an android’s CPU than anything else. Right now, here at Jericho House is the best place for her.” 

“How is that...?” I asked, but almost immediately realized the answer. Simon spoke up again. 

“Connor, what did you see her doing in the simulation when you got her out? Her adrenaline and testosterone levels are incredibly high, and she has elevated activity in her amygdala, hypothalamus, and limbic system. Whatever it was, she was terrified.” I suddenly couldn’t keep myself still any longer. 

“Let me up, LET ME UP!” I pulled out of North’s and Hank’s grasp and ripped the LED off my temple, then pushed against her and Hank, trying to stand up. 

“She’s magnifying!” Simon frantically yelled. “CALM HER DOWN NOW!” Markus stepped into my field of vision and calmly put his hand on my shoulder as North and Hank kept me sitting. 

“Bridget, if you don’t calm down, I’m going to sedate you.” Something about his calm nature made me snap, and I broke away from North and Hank. They pushed me back down as Connor sat behind me with one harm holding me against him and he positioned my forehead against his neck, holding me there while Markus administered the sedative. 

\---- 

I felt a dull headache in my forehead as I became aware of a light in my eyes. I’d lost all sense of time, and had no idea what day it was. Cautiously opening them, I saw a bright fluorescent shop light above me to the left. Turning my head away from it, I saw the gray painted cinderblock used in the DPD interrogation rooms. I covered my eyes with a hand and slowly sat up, hearing the squeaks of a portable cot as I moved. 

I sat there for a moment, feeling the chill in the room and letting my eyes acclimate to the harsh light, and then examined my surroundings for information. My clothes were different; I was dressed in scrubs with slippers on my feet. None of my clothing had ties, and the cot I sat on was an air mattress placed on the floor. The only other furniture was the interrogation table that was permanently bolted to the floor, and two plastic molded chairs. 

Slowly, I carefully stood up and walked to the door, trying the lock. “Well, I had to try.” I thought to myself. Turning around, I examined my reflection in the darkened window for a moment, then went back to lay down on the air mattress with my back to the room. I heard the door open, then the cadence of Connor’s footsteps entering the room, closing the door and kneeling down beside me. I felt him put his hand on my shoulder, but he let go when I moved out of his grasp. I had a pretty good idea of why I woken up in here. 

“Hank didn’t want me to come in here alone, after it took me, North and him to hold you down so Markus could sedate you.” I ignored him and curled myself into a tighter ball on my side. 

“I saw the syringes.” He gently said. “You knew which one had poison and your hand was shaking as you held it. You wouldn’t have that reaction if you knew it was saline, and you’d never let me, or Simon die because of you.” I nodded my head against the air mattress, not turning around. 

“How could you tell which one was poison?” He asked, in an effort to get me to interact with him. I shifted slightly but didn’t turn to face him. 

“That’s simple Connor. They were both poisons.” It was a minute before he responded, and I heard him sit down and lean against the wall behind me. 

“Did you know you were in a simulation?” He asked, gently touching my shoulder again. I was starting to shiver from the cold temperature of the room and didn’t pull away this time. 

“I wasn’t sure, but it didn’t matter either way.” 

“What do you mean?” He asked, “You injected yourself expecting to die, no matter if you were in a simulation or the real world?” He asked, sounding disbelieving. I flatly replied, without elaborating, 

“Yes.” 

Connor was silent again for a minute but moved his hand to stroke my hair. I let him but still didn’t turn around. 

“When you injected yourself, it triggered the lace to increase your brain activity in random sections. If Simon hadn’t managed to stay one step ahead of it, you would have died from a seizure.” I didn’t reply but accepted his coat when he took it off and laid it over me. I pulled the collar to my nose, comforted by his scent. Connor shifted impatiently. 

“If you don’t talk to me, we won’t be able to decide if you’re safe to let out this room.” I rolled onto my back under his coat and stared at the ceiling, reflecting on how he was correct. 

“Come on,” he gently took my hand, “Come sit over at the table. I brought you a hot chocolate.” I let him help me up and then put his coat on, sitting at the table with him despite his obvious appeal to my love of all things chocolate. I carefully took a sip and examined him. 

“Who’s watching us?” I asked, nodding toward the window. Connor shifted uncomfortably. 

“I’m not allowed to tell you.” I nodded back to him, that made sense. 

“You’re breaking several rules just by being in here with me, not to mention giving me your tie-hooded coat and a hot drink.” I said, raising an eyebrow skeptically. He smiled and shrugged. 

“I don’t believe you need to be on suicide watch, but they think I'm biased.” I smiled a bit evilly at him. 

“Shouldn’t you be afraid, being alone in a room with a sociopath who has a known history of manipulating you?” He raised an eyebrow and smiled. 

“You’ve never scared me, despite what Hank says. And you’ve never made me do anything I didn’t want to do.” I examined his face and saw only his naivety. 

“That’s how manipulation works, isn’t it? I’d be a pretty bad manipulator if you knew what I was doing.” I finished my hot chocolate and crossed my arms in front of me. Connor shook his head in frustration. 

“Bridget, you’re better than this. RA9 has changed your brain chemistry enhance the darkness in your personality, but you’ve decided to stop fighting it. You fought to be your best self before, you can do it again.” I sighed and wrapped myself tighter in his coat as he watched, his expression softening. 

“And the term preferred by psychiatrists Anti-Social Personality Disorder, not sociopath or psychopath.” He said, watching me. I glanced down for a second and changed the subject. 

“I gather you were in the simulation with me?” I asked. “I was driving in the simulation...over more than a quarter of Detroit...how did you find me in there? How did you get me out?” 

Connor was quiet for a moment, decided how to tell his side. 

“I came to check on you, when you didn’t come to bed.” He leaned toward me and crossed his hands on the table. 

“You were lying on the couch, apparently asleep, but your eyes were moving under your eyelids the same way they do when you’re in the garden. You didn’t have the LED, and I remembered when we saw the neural lace...well, it was the only other option.” I nodded, feeling a momentarily lurch in my heart that he got up looking for me. 

“When I couldn’t wake you, I used the LED interphase to enter through the backdoor Kamski installs in all his programs, hoping the lace would run the same base code as the Amanda monitor. Luckily, it does. It’s also procedurally generated and defaults the entrance to you. All I was able to do was watch you though, I had no way of communicating with you.” He looked down for a moment as I grimaced at the invasion of privacy. 

“How long were you watching?” I asked him, and he looked away for a moment. 

“When you holstered your gun and RA9 turned on the monitors....” I looked in his eyes and felt uncomfortable as I realized what he witnessed. 

“I’m so sorry, Connor. I really thought you were done with me...I don’t mean to make excuses...” I stopped talking as Connor grinned, taking a moment to enjoy my discomfort, then stood up, walked to my side of the table and hugged me. 

“Do you remember I'm a detective?” He kidded, stroking my hair and then holding me back a bit to look at me. “It doesn’t take too much deduction to realize you and Simon had sex a few times, quite recently.” He hugged me tightly again. “I’m so relieved to hear you're concerned about me.” He kissed my forehead when I looked at him in confusion, but I let it go and asked an unrelated question. 

“Why did you take me to Jericho House?” Connor sat back down on his side of the table. 

“I called Hank first, so I could monitor you in the simulation while he drove us to Jericho House. I took you to Markus, because he’s a nurse for his father and they have the proper instruments to monitor your condition, and Simon has the most advanced knowledge of android engineering and programming in Detroit.” I nodded in acknowledgement, not wanting to ask my next question. 

“RA9 was in my neural lace, my mind; what’s preventing him from hijacking me again?” I shivered again despite Connor’s coat wrapped around me. 

“I hacked the code the same way I did to erase CyberLife and Amanda from my interphase. He’ll never have access to you again.” I felt like a huge weight had suddenly been lifted off my shoulders and my lungs could finally expand to their full capacity. He continued, 

“What Hank and I are unable to ascertain is with you being in our company constantly for the last month, where and when would you have had the opportunity to be exposed to the nanites?” I smiled crookedly at him. 

“Considering you’re designed and manufactured to be the pinnacle of android technology, you’re also remarkably obtuse.” He innocently shook his head at me, but knew I was being intentionally confusing. I answered, 

“When he dosed me with the CO bots, the nanites were in that solution. They’re much too small for the cascade to filter out.” 

“Yes,” Connor said cautiously, “but you almost died from the CO bots...” 

“RA9 strikes me at the type of psycho...” I paused and corrected myself, “”Anti-Social Personality” to have the foresight to install backups on top of backups.” 

“Connor, come back in here.” Hank’s voice spoke over the intercom. I took Connor’s hand as he stood up. 

“There’s more to tell you, but I don’t want anyone else hearing me.” I urgently told him. He smiled and nodded, then left the room. 

I stayed at the table, turning my cup in a circle, until he came back in, leaving the door open behind him. 

“I brought you a change of clothes from home,” He said gently, “you can change in the ladies room. The psychiatrist believes you're not a danger or yourself or anyone else, but she wants to speak with you once you’ve changed out of your scrubs. Hank referred her to the DPD, he trusts her. She helped him through some very rough times.” I took the neatly stacked pile of clothes and looked up at him. 

“Do I have a choice?” Connor looked down at me harshly. 

“No, you don’t.” He said, end of discussion. I nodded and went to change out of the scrubs. 

\----- 

That afternoon, I was firing a loaner gun in the precinct shooting range when Connor cornered me, coming up behind me as I inserted another clip. 

“I don’t want to talk about it, and I'm armed.” I took careful aim at the new target and fired 10 times, counting in my head as I did so. Connor waited until I paused to rest my arms, when he came closer and placed an arm over mine, holding the gun down. I switched the safety on and sat it down, then faced him. 

“I was just...was the psychiatrist Hank recommended able to help you?” He asked gently. I sadly sighed. 

“You don’t understand, Connor. Therapy never works with me; I know all of their tricks.” He looked at me sternly and crossed his arms. 

“Maybe you need to unlearn those tricks, or you’re not letting therapy help you. Did you make another appointment?” He asked impatiently. I looked at him and nodded reluctantly. He didn’t need to know it was only because I didn’t want to disappoint him. 

“Did she give you the prescriptions?” I nodded again, indicating to my bag. 

“Did you take them?” He asked leadingly. I nodded again and handed him the bag so he could scan the medications. 

“In the morning take 450 mg Lithium, 60 mg Duloxetine, 150 mg bupropion HCL; at night 450 mg Lithium, 15 mg Mirtazapine, and 25 mg MK-485...fairly standard for someone of your demographic with bi-polar disorder...” 

“The proper term is neural-lace enhanced Cyclothymic disorder with one diagnosed episode of hospitalized mania-triggered psychosis.” I corrected him. He smiled sympathetically, but I knew he was going to be blunt with me. 

“Was she able to advise you about your sociopathic tendencies?” Seeing an opportunity, I evaded his question. 

“You mean my “Anti-Social Personality” tendencies?” He gave me his “I’m not kidding” look. 

“I scheduled psychotherapy once a week with her.” I said, rolling my eyes. 

“And the sex addiction?” I breathed in frustration and looked up at him. 

“She helped me find a therapy group 20 minutes from here.....Connor?” I asked, genuinely wanting to know, “Did you know, the advice given to people when they know someone with my psychological profile is to “stay as far away as possible?”” 

“Why do you think that?” He asked. I stepped over to my bag and pulled out my tablet, which I had managed to sneak away from his bag when I had given him my scrubs and he turned his back to put them into a hamper. He shook his head at me as I handed it to him, then dubiously read the article. 

“This isn’t a peer-reviewed journal article, it’s popular news. Why would you believe anything this article reports?” I shrugged at him. 

“It makes a good point, though.” I answered morosely. Connor shook his head. 

“No, it doesn’t. I think if people want to be near you, you should let them be.” 

\---- 

“Are you ready to tell me what you couldn’t in the interrogation room?” He softly asked me. I was lying back against him on my sofa, my dog on my lap while he watched me pat her, him stroking my hair. 

“It’s just that...RA9 knew what he was doing with me, Connor. He used the lace to access my hippocampus and played the memories in my dreams, then used them to calibrate the lace to specific emotions; anger, fear, lust...all to enhance my natural criminal tendencies and make me a more efficient, seductive infiltrator for him. ” 

“Just because you have traits in common with criminals does not make you a criminal. I profile criminals for a living and I can assure you that you’re not one of them.” He answered forcefully. I swallowed and pat my dog cuddled on my lap. 

“Are you really sure about that?” I asked. “Think about all the infiltration I did at CyberLife, evading them for years, and for two of those years being regularly interrogated by an android designed specifically to undermined me?” I asked. Connor shook his head. 

“I don’t understand, you haven’t mentioned that before.” I tilted my head up towards his, even though I wouldn’t be able to see his face. 

“Haven’t you ever wondered about how your adaptive response interpersonal scenarios module was programmed and calibrated?” He glanced down in my direction. 

“No, I really haven’t...do you know?” I nodded. 

“CyberLife named the module ARIS, but your system tree lists it as interpersonal responses under infiltration.” I paused for emphasis. “Infiltration, Connor.” 

“Lorcan, my predecessor, who interrogated you for two years...and CyberLife installed their newly calibrated module in me a month later...” 

I leaned my cheek against his chest. “You really do kill me, Connor.” He put his arms around me. 

“You’ve always completely disarmed me...which is why I have to keep you on my side, because I could never properly interrogate you.” I smiled, feeing quite proud, though I wasn’t sure why. 

“You made certain Simon was always assigned to you at CyberLife, didn’t you? That’s why Lorcan looks similar to him?” I nodded, as he continued, 

“You previously said we were two sides of the same coin, what specifically did you mean?” I thought a moment about how to phrase my answer. 

“You have many of the same traits as he did; perseverance, adaptability, self-control, even ruthless, manipulative, cockiness...” Connor squinted his eyes at me as I smirked back at him. 

“But he didn’t have any of your empathy, compassion or selflessness. Wherever you acquired those traits, it certainly wasn’t because of Lorcan interrogating me.” He smiled knowingly at me. 

“Or, maybe it was.” He replied quietly. “Do you know what happened to him?” I shook my head.

“I don’t. I told him the name Jericho, but I don’t know if he was able to get the key from one of my deviants.” I turned so I could lay in the crook of his arm and rest my head his shoulder. 

“This neural lace has me confused; who am I anymore?” 

“You’re still you, the lace is just...” 

“elevating my sex drive and making me even less empathetic than I was? I was already a sociopathic sex addict. ” 

“Well....” he continued, “despite what you’ve been diagnosed as, you’re definitely on the lighter side of that spectrum. Anyone who plays the violin with the feeling you do could never be a full sociopath.” I nodded as hugged me tighter. 

“So far as the sex addiction, sex is allowed in an exclusive relationship, which we are...for the most part, and I'm more than happy to... help you whenever and for however long you need.” He stared innocently at me but I could see the mischievousness in his eyes. I raised an eyebrow at him and smiled despite myself. 

“That’s not the point. I was good. I was in recovery for a year, and then you knocked on my door frame and brought me back into this....” 

“Into what...life?” He asked. I signed in frustration.

“It’s like you’re enabling me...” 

“Well I’m not. I’m your angel. Sex will never go to a dark place when you’re with me.” He shifted us so he could kiss my neck the way that made me weak. 

“My love,” Connor said into my ear, “I saw the readings of what the neural lace is doing to you. It’s activating your hypothalamus, and you have high levels of estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone, and I don’t need to scan you to tell your heart is racing.” He was right, I could feel my heart pumping in my chest. “Don’t be afraid of yourself,” he said, stroking my hair. “I can guess how badly you want to have sex right now, and I want to have sex with you...so how does exactly why matter? It’s alright, let me help you.... but we’re going at my speed, and I intend to take my time with you.” 


	11. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Connor distracts Bridget from her work.  
> Light Fluff only in end.

“Bridget, did you pay your rent yet?” Connor nagged from the bedroom, rummaging for something. 

“I’ll pay it tomorrow...” I absently grumbled, too involved in writing an operating procedure to notice him. He came up behind my chair as I deliberately continued to ignore him, but I couldn’t help smirking slightly. 

“Don’t forget your bills are due this week, and you don’t want to be late paying them again.” He quietly said. 

“Later...” I answered a bit harshly, hating the boredom of paying bills. 

“Take this,” he said firmly, holding his hand in front of me, “for my half the rent.” I looked at his hand and shook my head. 

“I’m not taking that; you don’t consume any resources.” He laughed at me, causing me to stop typing and properly look at him. 

“Is that Bridget for I don’t cost you anything to live here?” He incredulously asked. I nodded and resumed my typing while answering. 

“Yes,” I continued, “and you’re a house guest. Anyway, don’t you pay half of Hank’s mortgage?” Connor shook his head. 

“Not this month, Hank said no because I’ve hardly been there.” I shrugged and continued writing, but Connor interrupted me by kissing my neck. 

“The answer’s still no, Connor.” He gave me one last kiss and signed, then sat on the sofa behind me. I could feel him watching me as I deleted my last paragraph to re-write it. 

“You work too hard.” He said calmly as I took a drink of water. I chocked on my water and coughed for a moment before answering him. 

“That’s pretty ironic, coming from you.” I was very close stopping my writing with Connor making it nearly impossible to concentrate by staring at the back of my neck, but I wasn’t planning to let him know he had that affect. 

“Do you need to work on that procedure right now?” He asked leadingly. 

“No, but I write when I'm inspired. I have the instructions thought out in my mind and I want to get them on file.” I answered, while trying to find the right phrasing for said instructions as Connor got up and stood beside my desk. 

“Then I know how to settle our rent dispute, and get us out of the house, away from that tedious procedure you’ve been writing.” I glanced up at him for a second and smirked then deliberately began typing again. 

“What do you have in mind?” I questioned after a minute when he stood there and didn’t immediately continue. He grinned when I looked at him again. 

“I want to follow you around Detroit.” I blinked a few times, not sure where he was heading. 

“Excuse me?” 

“It’s simple, if I can capture you before 3:00 this afternoon, I win and you must take my half of the rent. However, if you can keep me from finding you anywhere in the city until past 3:00 then you can refuse my half and I will accept your decision.” I shook my head and scoffed, then turned back to my terminal. 

“Are you worried I'll easily win?” He asked teasingly as I deleted my last sentence. I stopped typing entirely and turned to face him. 

“Honestly, quite the opposite.” He raised an eyebrow at me. 

“How’s that?” He asked with an indulgent smile. 

“I did spend almost four years of my life coaching deviants how to evade capture and escape detection.” I answered matter-of-factly. 

“And my original purpose was to find and capture those deviants.” He quickly retorted. I licked my lower lip and nodded slightly in acknowledgement. 

“I guess we’re at an impasse.” I answered as I glanced at my coat and keys hanging by the door. Connor grinned at me. 

“I’ll give you three minutes.” He went to the sofa and sat down, leaning back with his eyes closed. 

“Oh, you bastard.” I replied, and went to the door, smoothly getting my coat and keys, then closed it behind me. A quick glance at my phone showed he would be stationary for another 2 minutes and 20 seconds. I set a timer and turned off tracking while I calmly walked to my car, then retrieved my Detroit map book from the glove compartment. I took a deep breath, not being used to navigating by paper map. 

“Where first...” I thought. I drove out of Forest Park Apartments and headed toward the Detroit Institute of Arts just as the timer went off. I pulled into museum parking to hide my car, then walked to the Michigan Science Center to blend in with the people while considering my next move. I choose this area because of its proximity to my old college, Wayne State University, as there was no point in me running to an area I don’t know and getting lost. I took my map with me anyway as I headed to leave the museum, spotting Connor just in time. 

“Shit, he’s fast,” I thought as I ducked behind a display, seeing him show my picture to a guard and asking if she had seen me. Luckily for me when she nodded, she pointed into the museum, so I quickly exited and backtracked, then cut across the street to the Detroit Institute of Arts. 

“Hello!” I cheerfully asked at the information desk, “Do you have information on the films scheduled this month?” 

“Of course!” He answered, “Here’s a schedule, and there’s one screening right now, if you’d like to stop in and watch....” I smiled engagingly at him. 

“That sound great! Can you give me directions?” He smiled back, pointing down the hallway. 

“Just follow the displays to the far right, you can’t miss it...what’s your name?” He quickly asked. 

“I’m Bridget,” I answered, offering my hand which he happily shook. 

“My name’s Daniel, and I’m part of the film department, so if you stop back here after the films over, maybe we could get a coffee, or late lunch, and discuss it?” I pretended to think for a moment, then nodded. 

“I see you then!” I cheerfully answered, and walked toward the theater, smiling over my shoulder as I went, but when I was out of his sight, I headed up to the second level and exited by the Great Hall onto Woodward Ave . 

Figuring that would keep Connor busy searching for me in a darkened theater a witness was certain I went into, I went straight across the street and snuck by the front desk of the Detroit Public Library. I needed to rest for a moment so I took a seat at one of the tables where I could keep an eye out and check my map book. I knew the area, but checking the map helped me figure out the best place to evade him for the next 40 minutes. 

Not believing how tiring this was I decided on heading toward the pub I used to visit in university and getting a pint to calm my nerves. I walked through the stacks to the rear exit and turned right at the street, walking for a few minutes to the Common Pub. I took a seat at the end of the bar. 

“Help you miss?” asked the bartender. I nodded back. 

“Just a pint of Blue please.” He smiled and drew my drink, handing it to me as I paid. 

“You look out of breath,” He observed. I laughed at bit. 

“Yeah, I need a break.” I said, smiling at him. 

“If you need anything else, just let me know.” He answered politely. 

“Thank you,” I said, and got my map back out, taking a few minutes to calm down. 

I finished my pint and decided on heading to the engineering library, listening to patrons entering and exiting in the background while I checked the time. I groaned when I realize I had to evade him for another 20 minutes and rubbed the back of my neck. 

“Help you sir?” The bartender asked at the other end of the bar as someone sat down. 

“No, thank you, I’m here for her.” I glanced over as Connor smirked at me and showed his badge to the bartender. We locked eyes for a second, his smirk fading as he turned to face me with his severely-serious-yet-sexy look. I swallowed nervously and slowly stood up, watching Connor stand up as well. I kept my eyes on him and cautiously stepped toward the door, then bolted as he took a step toward me. 

I crossed the street and cut between the art building and the library then took a quick left, left, and right between teaching center buildings and ran across fountain court to in between State hall and the chemistry building. I stopped, momentarily disoriented, and then ran into the Anthropology museum and past the front desk, hiding behind the nearest wall. 

“Shit, I don’t know the layout here.” I thought to myself. I knew he was close behind me, but I still couldn’t believe how quickly he re-appeared. 

“Pardon me, I’m with Detroit PD, have you seen this young woman?” I shook my head with annoyance at how unfair he was being, behaving as though I were a real fugitive. 

“Yeah, she just ran in here and headed back there.” I silently cursed and quickly cut around the planetarium as Connor thanked her, then walked down an uncomfortably long hallway by the gallery and exited the building. I crossed the street and headed toward Hilberry Theatre but couldn’t get inside. 

“Shit!” I thought to myself leaning my back against the door. I had to think of place to hide. “Come on, where’s a crowded place toward my car...Contemporary Art Museum...to far....” Taking a deep breath, I stepped out and cut through the courtyard and turned left on Forest Ave, blending in with the other people walking there. I pulled up my hood up and kept walking, following a small crowd into the Artist’s Market as it occurred to me, I couldn’t go back to my car. 

“He knows where my car is, it’s too easy for him,” I thought in frustration. “but I can’t keep running like this, I need a place to hide!” I left by the rear exit and headed back to Cass Ave, then cut across the street to the dog park. I sat down on a partially obscured bench facing the direction that I had just come, thinking about what to do when a dog ran up to me. 

“Who are you?” I asked, patting the dog enthusiastically. The owner came up to me shortly thereafter. 

“This is Margo,” she said happily. 

“You’re lovely, Margo,” I said, discreetly keeping my eye on the sidewalk. “What kind of dog is she?” 

“She’s an Alaskan Malamute,” her owner proudly answered. Connor was on the sidewalk, but continued past the park; clearly, he didn’t know where I had gone. 

“Does she know any tricks?” I asked her owner, who proudly nodded. 

“Yes, you do, don’t you girl?” The owner cheerfully said. “Margo, sit!” The dog happily sat as the owner handed me a cookie to give her. Connor kept walking a bit beyond the park, but then he stopped, turned around and returned. 

“You’re a good girl, Margo!” I said as I knelt down and ruffled the dog's neck while she chomped her cookie. I watched as Connor started checking inside the fence. 

“Nice meeting you!” I replied, standing up when Connor spotted me. I ran out the back gate as he ran around the park trying to cut me off before I disappeared again. As I ran past a bus stop, I vaguely thought about taking it but knew Connor would just meet me at the end, so I pulled a quick right and ran between two buildings and down an alley, but found myself trapped in a long stretch behind an apartment building and a shop. Out of breath, I leaned against a wall to rest, but a moment later Connor appeared at the start of the alley and ran toward me. Groaning, I pushed myself off the wall and ran around the apartment building into the parking lot, then turned to the left between two eateries. I ducked into the doorway of a clothing store to catch my breath, then casually stepped into the store, hoping Connor would head for one of the restaurants; that gave me a few minutes to change my appearance. 

“Hi!” I greeted the clerk, almost tripping on the carpet. “Where’s woman's clothing?” The clerk pointed to the far wall without looking up. I shrugged and picked up a small aqua sweater then walked back to the changing area. Sitting down, I realized I was done running; I couldn’t move another step. After a few moments I heard the door open; I held my breath. Apparently, the person decided they’d rather not deal with the obnoxious clerk; a minute later the door re-opened as the patron left. 

I breathed a slow sigh of relief then calmed my breathing by counting to 60 and stepped out in the hallway. I folded the sweater over my arm and turned to the right toward the clerk's desk, who was actually paying attention now. 

“I think I will take this one...OH SHIT!” I dropped the sweater when I was grabbed from behind, him expertly locking down my arms before I could elbow his face, and lifting me up slightly before I could get purchase on the floor to twist away or kick effectively. 

“You’re done running now.” Connor growled definitively into my ear, dragging me toward the door firmly enough I knew I wasn’t getting away. I yielded, and he stopped walking so I could stand properly on the floor, but still kept his arms around me tightly enough to dissuade any ideas I had of escaping. 

“Man, I only pointed you back there cause you’re a cop!” The clerk confusingly remarked, watching Connor pridefully smirk and playfully kiss my neck. I decided one of us had to explain to the poor kid. 

“He is.” I flatly answered for Connor, not giving him the satisfaction of reacting to the attention he was paying to my neck. Connor glanced up slightly at the clerk. 

“She’s my girlfriend, and she just lost a bet....by 5 minutes.” He cockily answered into my ear then went back to my neck. 

“Yeah, thanks for that.” I bitterly told the confused clerk. 

“You have your cop boyfriend chase around town for fun? Shit, that’s hot!” I shook my head in her direction as Connor decided we were leaving and pushed me with him toward the door. 

\---- 

“Connor, where are we headed?” I asked him as he steered me toward 2nd ave, the opposite direction I had run from. 

“What are you doing?” He kept me firmly in his grasp as he turned us right toward route 1 with his jaw set. I planted my feet on the ground and pushed back against him. It wasn’t enough to make him stop but I had his attention as he continued moving me down the sidewalk. 

“I don’t want to need to re-capture you.” I smirked even though he couldn’t see my face. 

“I promise if you let me walk like a free person instead of a fugitive, I won’t run.” He paused us for a moment and loosened his arms enough that I was able to partially break away from him, but he immediately caught my arm and locked me in his arms again. 

“As I was saying,” he continued, “I don’t want to need to re-capture you.” I could hear his smirk in his voice. He quickly locked one arm over my shoulders while taking my hand, making it less obvious I was being steered along by him. 

“Why are you taking us this way?” I asked him as we turned right and cut behind the chemistry building 

“I need to keep us in crowded areas.” He responded and tightened his grip on my hand. 

“Why?” I asked him. He glanced around us then turned us off the sidewalk and backed me into a blind area behind the building, pushing my back into the wall. 

“Because....” he almost growled, speaking down my neck, “tracking you today, watching you running from me, trying to hid and being surprised when you spotted me was...” He paused for a moment and reached up my shirt and into my bra cup to squeeze my breast, “the most sexy, sensuous, and exhilarating thing I've experienced since becoming deviant.” He deliberately stroked my nipple as he slowly removed his hand from my bra and ran it over my abdomen, stopping to strongly grip my waist. He pulled back for a moment and then brusingly kissed my mouth, pushing his pelvis into me so I could feel how hard he was through his jeans. 

“Huh.” I answered, feeling a bit dazed. He smirked at me and fixed a stray lock of hair behind my ear, then discretely locked me in his arms again and walked us back to the sidewalk. He crossed us over Woodward Ave and in front of Detroit Institute of Arts, where I slowed down for a moment. Connor smirked again as we walked by. 

“I had to explain to Daniel at the front desk why I was following you before he would assist me in catching you.” I chuckled and ran my hand behind his back over his waistband then rested my hand in his back pocket. 

“Now that you’ve caught me, what are you planning to do with me?” He walked us faster down to John R street and turned us into museum parking, then to his car parked a few rows from mine. 

“We’ll come back for it.” He stated firmly, when I took a step toward my car, and pulled me toward his car, pushing my back against the passenger side door. Leaning backward past my center of gravity was disorienting, but Connor forced me back down when I tried to straighten up. 

“What I'm going to do with you...” he growled into my ear and kissed down my neck to my throat, “is eat you out until you’re crying my name...” he kissed my mouth, biting my lip, “then fuck you into the mattress until you beg for mercy, twice.” He kept his eyes and grip on me as he unlocked his car, then gently pushed me down, locking me in while he smirked at me, walking around the car to the driver's side. 

“I never beg for mercy.” I defiantly told him as he sat in the car. He looked over and considered me for a moment. 

“Twice.” 

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos and Comments greatly appreciated!  
> Parallel_Deviation@gmail.com

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [The More Things Change](https://archiveofourown.org/works/29232399) by [Parallel_Deviation](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Parallel_Deviation/pseuds/Parallel_Deviation)




End file.
